


Dream of you

by Rainbugi



Category: VICTON (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dreams, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25026253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainbugi/pseuds/Rainbugi
Summary: Seungwoo always dreams in black and white until one day he starts to have a series of colourful dreams which involve a man he has never met before.Or: Seungwoo doesn't know he wants romance until he falls in love with the literal man of his dreams
Relationships: Han Seungwoo & Kang Seungsik, Han Seungwoo/Kang Seungsik
Comments: 39
Kudos: 79
Collections: Lucky 7 Victon





	1. Black and White

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting uwu please be kind! I hope you enjoy it, leave a comment if you want <3 additional tags will be added later bc i am on my phone and i cant figure out how to get them to work TT

Seungwoo suppressed a yawn for what felt like the hundredth time that day. The store hadn’t even been open that long, only... He searched around for his phone to check the time. It had only been 2 hours? He groaned and buried his head in his hands. The day had been going exceptionally slow for a Saturday, with only two customers who hung around for a while but bought nothing in the end. He had already done all the restocking and his paperwork for that day. He honestly thought he might lose it if nothing interesting happened to keep him awake. Right as he thought that he heard a loud banging noise coming from the back of the store. He quickly rushed over, only to find a pile of books, with a fluffy white tail sticking out of them.

‘Onni, not again!’ He quickly dug the cat out from under the rubble and checked if she wasn’t hurt before sternly berating her; ‘You know you shouldn’t climb the shelfs, it’s dangerous! You could get hurt!’

‘Meow!’ 

He laughed and shook his head. ‘No, you can’t go grab any books! You can’t even read, you silly thing,’ he gently ruffled her fur and put her down on the floor. Then he looked down at the mess she had made. ‘Well, at least you gave me something to do...’ He sighed and started picking up the books to put them back in the right places. She really loved climbing a bit too much for her own good, and usually that came at the expense of Seungwoo’s books, or his house plants, the two things he loved the most. After her and his friends and family of course.

Several hours later Seungwoo found himself yet again bored out of his mind behind his counter. A few people had come in, and a few books were sold, so overall it was a pretty successful day. He had perked up a bit after his lunch gave him back some of his energy, but all of that was lost now that it was almost time to close up. He just wanted to go home and lay down, perhaps with a good book and his cat on his lap. At that moment, however, a bell sounded through the store, signalling that another customer had come in. 

‘5 minutes before closing? Really?’ He thought to himself, annoyed. He decided to simply make a show out of nearly being closed by cleaning as many things on his desk, yet the customer stayed. Mentally sighing, he looked up to see if they needed anything, so he could help them fast and be done with it. To his surprise, however, it wasn’t a customer that was simply standing there staring at him amusedly. It was his best friend, well, one of the two.

‘Oh! Hey Hanse! I didn’t see you there.’ A blush crept up to Seungwoo’s cheeks as he realised how silly he must have looked.

‘I noticed,’ Hanse chuckled, ‘Were you perhaps trying to get me to leave?’

‘Haha very funny. I thought you were an annoying last-minute customer,’ Seungwoo tried to hide his embarrassment by ducking to put some papers back into a drawer he had just gotten them out of. ‘What brings you here?’

‘What? Can’t I visit my one and only friend without reason?’

‘Oh no, what has Sejun done this time?’ Seungwoo knew that tone, it meant either Hanse was angry at Sejun, their other friend, or he was worried about him and didn’t know what to do. This time turned out to be the latter.

‘He won’t leave his room! Says he’s too busy studying. I couldn’t even get him out with the promise of pizza!’

Seungwoo faked a dramatic gasp, ‘Not even a pizza?! I’m sorry to say but he’s a lost cause.’

They both laughed at this. ‘Yeah he definitely is. And since he won’t eat that pizza with me I thought maybe you would like to.’

Seungwoo nodded while his stomach grumbled at the sound of food. ‘Sounds great, your place or mine?’

‘Yours of course, your couch is more comfortable and you have a better tv.’ Hanse smiled cheekily.

‘So you only asked me because you wanted to use my couch and my tv? You wound me.’ He faked an expression of hurt while Hanse let out a chuckle.

‘No I only asked you because Sejun said no.’

He huffed indignantly at this, but then Hanse elbowed him playfully and he couldn’t help but smile as well. He was glad his friends could always lift his mood. Hanse flipped the sign on the door to closed and hopped out the store. ‘Let’s go, I’m hungry.’

Seungwoo picked up his bag and scooped up his cat before following him out onto the street. He locked the door and they took off towards the apartment building the three of them, including Sejun, lived at.

By the time they arrived Onni had moved from his hand to his shoulder, perched like the queen she was on her rightful throne. Seungwoo was glad she was so content sitting on him or being carried because he did not want to go through the trouble of attempting to get her into a carrier every day. She hated it and always attempted to scratch him to pieces whenever he even held it.

At the elevators he and Hanse parted. Seungwoo preferred to take the stairs, since he only had three floors to go up and elevators felt far too cramped and closed off to him. Hanse had to go all the way up to the seventh, so the elevator was the more logical choice for him.

‘You can let yourself in once you’ve got the food, I think I’ll take a quick shower first.’ He said before the elevator doors closed and he calmly made his way up the steps. Once he closed the door of his apartment behind him Onni jumped off his shoulder and ran off to find her favourite napping spot. He dropped his bag off in the kitchen so he wouldn’t forget to wash his lunchbox and quickly hopped into the shower.

‘Finally! Damn did you get lost in there or something?’ Hanse was already sitting on his comfy, dark grey fabric couch with a huge box of pizza on the small coffee table in front of him.

‘Shut up,’ Seungwoo grumbled, plopping down on the couch as well and digging in.

While they ate and drank, they talked about their week and he gave the younger some tips on how to better organize his schoolwork, hoping he would pass them on to Sejun. They both studied literature, the same study as Seungwoo, and had classes together. Hanse had introduced Seungwoo to him, in hopes that Seungwoo could help him with his studies, which he did with pleasure. And so they became friends. Seungwoo continued to help the both of them out and in return they helped him whenever they could with getting his little bookstore off the ground.

When he first started out, he had been overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork that had been piling up day by day and the two of them had restocked his fridge and kept the place clean when he couldn’t muster up the energy to do so himself. They had gotten some help from Seungwoo’s neighbour, a young boy named Subin, who had gotten his hands on a key to his apartment.

How, nobody knew, especially not Seungwoo, but ever since he got it he had been using it to sneak into his apartment at random times just to pet his cat. When Seungwoo had caught him doing this at first he had been quite angry, but the kid had explained that he was simply doing it because it helped him deal when being alone was becoming too much for him. Seungwoo, with his instinctive need to take care of everyone around him, had relented and chosen to not report him to the landlord. Now he came and went as he pleased and Seungwoo had grown very attached to him.

‘Wanna watch a movie?’ Hanse interrupted his thoughts.

He looked up at the clock to see that it was already almost ten, they had been sitting there talking for over four hours. ‘You sure? Don’t you still have schoolwork to do? It’s getting late.’

‘Ah come on you old man, it’s not that late. Plus you’re free tomorrow right? You don’t need to sleep just yet. Let’s scroll through Netflix.’

Seungwoo laughed at the way the other man attempted to not answer his question. ‘First of all, I am not an old man thank you very much. Secondly, it’s not my sleep I’m worried about, it’s yours. And how the lack of it will affect your schoolwork.’ 

Hanse rolled his eyes and went to turn on the tv, ‘My sleep is fine, thanks. I’d worry about yourself more since you look like you haven’t slept in five years. What genre do you wanna watch?’

He sighed but relented and let the other man pick a movie. They ended up watching an extremely sad movie that had Hanse trying to hide his tears, which he would have made fun of had he not been trying to do the same. Instead he simply put an arm around him, comforting him without words as they watched the rest of the movie.

When the movie was finally over and Hanse had left, he cleaned up after them, putting away the leftovers. Then he sank back into the couch, intending to watch some more tv before heading to bed. It wasn’t long, however, until his eyes started drooping and he had to force himself to get up, turn of the tv and head to bed.

_Seungwoo found himself standing on the edge of an enormous cliff, in the middle of a storm. The wind hit his back, threatening to push him off. He looked down at the water hitting the cliff, thinking to himself that he should probably be scared, but he found himself incapable of it. He looked around at his surroundings, noting that there was a weird lack of colour, in fact, there were no colours at all. Everything was various shades of grey... Realisation hit him right as the wind gave a final push and he felt himself topple backwards off the cliff. It was just a dream. He closed his eyes and calmly waited for his body to hit the water and rocks below him. Instead he landed on something soft._

_He opened his eyes and took in his new surroundings as he sat up. He was in a small diner, laying in one of the booths. Everything was still black and white, telling him he was still dreaming. He found himself unable to care. Every dream he had ever had was like this, cold, emotionless and above all colourless. And every single time he woke up feeling more tired than when he went to sleep, as if the sleep had worn him out rather than rest him. He stood up from the booth and walked around the completely empty diner._

_That was another thing, he never saw people in his dreams. He knew he appeared in his friend’s dreams, and from what he had read in the various books about dreams in his store, in strangers dreams as well. Yet here he was, standing in the deserted, colourless diner, completely indifferent to what was going to happen next. He wandered out onto the streets, hoping soon enough he would wake up. He had read that if you got too excited in your dreams you could force yourself awake, but as it was, he found nothing to get excited about. So, he wandered on for what felt like hours._

A beam of sunlight hit his face, effectively waking him up, as his clock pointed to 12 in the afternoon. He had slept in quite a bit, yet his entire body felt heavy and he struggled to get up. He knew why, of course, it was the dreams doing. He sighed and buried his face in his pillow, unwilling to face the day feeling like this.

Eventually, he did manage to get up. He went through his usual morning routine of feeding his cat, making himself some tea and an egg and having a calm breakfast while staring out his apartments window at the city, which had already been in full motion for several hours. He did his dishes and then decided a good way to spend his day off was to play some videogames, so he headed back into his room. He started up his computer and thought to himself that it would be a better idea to first do his paperwork for the shop, so that he could truly relax the rest of the day.

Once he was done with his paperwork, he scrolled through the games he had on his pc and decided to settle for some Red Dead Redemption. He checked to see if any of his friends were online, but of course they were all busy with their exams and projects for the end of the year, so he spent a few hours riding around on his horse in offline mode, only stopping when his stomach started to protest in hunger. He had skipped lunch, so naturally he was already hungry at four. He figured he might as well have lunch now and settle for a late dinner, so he went to the kitchen and made himself a sandwich.

After lunch he considered taking a long nap, as he was still extremely tired, but he thought it would be a shame to sleep the rest of his free day away without even talking to his friends. So, he pulled out his phone and opened the group app he had started with the others.

 **Sw:** hey guys hows studying going?

 **Sj:** after pulling 3 all nighters this week I am proud to say: well!

 **Hs:** Sejun answer my texts challenge

 **Hs:** Studying is going ok, thanks

 **Sw:** im proud of you sejun :)

 **Sw:** hanse stop stressing youre doing fine

 **Sj:** thanks uwu

 **Hs:** Ew Sejun no. No uwuing.

 **Sj:** :c

 **Hs:** I’m not stressing, I’m completely fine. In fact I have never been this fine before! I think. Sejun answer my messages >:(

 **Sw:** you think?

 **Hs:** ANYWAY, how are you? Did you manage to rest today?

 **Sw:** … were not here to talk about me

 **Sj:** :Cc are u ok do u wanna talk about it

 **Sw:** im fine, its just the usual

 **Hs:** Dreams?

 **Sw:** yeah, its nothing really! it just makes me so tired.. i slept almost twelve hours, but i feel like i didnt sleep at all.. SO not looking forward to next week haha

 **Hs:** Ouch...

 **Sj:** :CCC do u want us to come over? I can bring snacks :3

 **Sw:** thats ok i wouldnt want to distract you from your studying, thanks tho ^^ ill just sit on the couch doing nothing the rest of the day lmao

 **Sj:** oh so productive, love it

 **Sw:** shut up brat i already did my paperwork for today

 **Sj:** owo he did him papewwowk! how good! do u want a medal now

 **Hs:** Sejun for once in your life please shut up. Also Seungwoo why would you not let him come over he’s finally willing to leave his house after 3 years in the darkness! Sejun come over to mine instead I’ve got food. And answer my messages!

 **Sj:** I cant read oops gtg do more studying :3

 **Hs:** How can you study if you can’t read?

 **Sw:** how do you study without reading

 **Sw:** haha the braincell popped out

 **Sj:** my braincells have all died I think

 **Hs:** As if you had any to begin with.

 **Sw:** sejun is like a snail, using only 2 braincells to make decisions. except he does that for everything in life and he powers them with the caffeine he gets from his coke

 **Sj:** youre all mean! I’m leaving! ;-;

 **Hs:** He’s also slimey, it fits

 **Sj:** hey! :c

 **Hs:** Wow you answered me! That’s new!

 **Sw:** sjejslgdo gl studying tiny men

 **Hs:** Have fun being a couch potato tall boi.

 **Sj:** <3

With that he put his phone back down and settled for becoming a couch potato like Hanse had said.


	2. Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungwoo always dreams in black and white until one day he starts to have a series of colourful dreams which involve a man he has never met before.
> 
> Or: Seungwoo doesn't know he wants romance until he falls in love with the literal man of his dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter two! its a bit shorter, but hopefully still enjoyable :3 let me know what you think <3

_Seungwoo was running. What was he running from? He wracked his brain, searching for a reason but coming up with nothing. Why would he run if he didn’t even know what from? He stopped in his tracks, looking around to see if there was anything even worth being scared of. Where was he in the first place? All around him he could see dense trees, apart from the clear path he had been running across, stretching out in both directions._

_‘It’s probably best to not follow it back where I came from, since there should be something I was running from.’ He said to himself. So, instead, he followed the path further into the forest. The further along he went the darker it became and he found it hard to see when suddenly he came upon a fork in the road. To the left, there was nothing but endless forest. To his right, however he saw the vague glow of a fire, not too far away. If he walked in that direction he might find warmth, a pleasant thought, since it was oh so very cold in this dark and grey forest._

_Somewhere in the back of his head a little voice said: ‘It’s all grey again.’ Not really bothered to find out what that meant, he took the path to the right and wandered towards the light. The closer he got, however, the louder that voice in his head became, until he finally acknowledged it, thinking to himself: ‘I can see that it’s all grey! Even the light... the light of the flame is grey.’_

_He stopped in his tracks for the second time. Ah. It was a dream again. He sighed and scratched his head, unsure of what to do next. He could stand there and wait for the dream to be over, or he could go see what was ahead, where the light shone across the path. Either that or he turned around and went along the other path, against his dream’s clear indications._

_When he turned around to do just that, trying to spite his own brain for getting him stuck in yet another void, he saw what he had been running from. He wasn’t sure how to describe it, as it seemed to be changing its shape every time he blinked. What he could tell was that the creature was coming closer ever so slowly, almost unnoticeably. He wasn’t scared, since his dream self wouldn’t allow fear, but he didn’t really feel like discovering what it would feel like to be ripped apart by something several times his size, so he turned back again and started running towards the flames that, upon closer inspection, seemed a bit too large and bright. He realized he was running straight towards a forest fire, not a friendly campfire like he had initially thought._

_‘Now what?’ He thought to himself. He could run into the fire, since it was just a dream and he wouldn’t really get burned alive. Or he could try and stand his ground against the creature behind him. ‘Or I could run into the trees and hide,’ he thought, immediately favouring that option. He made a sharp left straight into the dense pack of tree, slamming his way through the branches, scaring a little red butterfly from its nap. He ran a little bit further, zigzagging in between trees, then he dove into a group of berry bushes. He felt their branches rip through his clothes as he squatted and tried to stay as quiet as possible._

_He felt weird, not panicked, but also not completely calm, like he usually was. As time went on, though, he sank down into a more relaxed position and that familiar wave of complete indifference washed over him again. He hoped the dream would end soon, or he would wake up completely exhausted again, and that wouldn’t be a good start to the new week. He figured he could get up, but who knew what else this forest had to offer, so he chose to just sit there until the dream was over._

He grunted and opened his eyes to find himself still sitting on his couch in complete darkness. That was strange, he could swear he hadn’t gotten up to turn off the lights. Why would he have, just to then sit back down on the couch? Did the bulb give out maybe? He stretched out and felt a blanket slide off him. He reached down to pick it up, certain he hadn’t felt cold enough to put a blanket on himself. That’s when he spotted the silhouette next to him on the couch. He couldn’t quite make out the shape, but it was definitely too big to be his cat.

He smiled to himself and gently threw the blanket over his neighbour, who must’ve come in after he had fallen asleep. By the looks of it he had curled himself around Onni and fallen asleep as well. It was a good thing Seungwoo’s couch was made to be slept on, as it could be transformed into a somewhat comfortable bed if one were to push down the back rest.

So that he did, trying to make Subin as comfortable as possible, before heading to his own room to sleep the rest of the night away. It was only four in the morning, meaning he still had four and a half hours of sleep left if he wanted to make it to the store by nine-thirty. On Mondays he didn’t open until ten am and he treasured the extra hour of sleep it gave him. He dove into the bed, not bothering to fix the blankets and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When he woke up, he felt slightly more rested than he expected, which honestly didn’t say much. He yawned and stretched himself out. Luckily, he hadn’t bothered changing out his pyjamas the day before, or he would’ve had a very uncomfortable night in jeans. He got up and walked into the kitchen area to get himself his morning cup of tea. From the couch he heard a soft groan as Subin too woke up.

‘Hey there sleepy head, want some breakfast?’ He smiled warmly at the boy.

‘No that’s okay, I should get back,’ the younger said in a small voice, before hurrying out the room.

Seungwoo sighed. He really hoped the kid would warm up to him at some point. He seemed like such a sweet and cute little thing, but he was so shy. Well, not shy enough at least to let himself in even when Seungwoo was home, which was progress he supposed. He got his breakfast ready and sat down. He enjoyed taking his time eating and staring out the window, which is why he always made sure he had an hour before he had to be at the store even though it was only a five-minute walk down the street.

He had been very lucky to find a place for his store so close to where he had already settled, he thought while he walked down the street with Onni on his shoulder. He didn’t make much, but it was enough to pay for his little single-bedroom-apartment, his necessities and occasionally something nice. He was pretty content like this, with his friends and his job close by. He smiled to himself, determined to not let his tiredness ruin what was surely to be a beautiful Monday.

He managed to keep up his good mood until closing time, despite the calmness of the typical Monday. Or was it because of? Maybe he had kept his good mood so far because he didn’t have to deal with any annoying customers. He skipped a few steps on his way back home, almost scaring Onni off his shoulder. She meowed indignantly and swatted at his head with her paw a few times before settling back down. All Seungwoo could do was laugh as he endured the attack and swiped his card to get into the apartment building.

As he gave Onni her food he tried to decide what to eat himself. He still had some leftovers from the day before that he could heat up, but he thought he would save that for the next day. Instead he chose to make some new food, enough to not only feed himself but also his friends. He knew how difficult it could be to find the time and energy to make food with school getting busier.

After he ate, he packed the leftovers in three separate boxes and headed out to deliver them. First, he went all the way up to the tenth floor, where Sejun lived. He knocked on the door and waited for his friend to open. While he waited he heard several concerning crashing noises coming from the room, before a dishevelled Sejun opened.

‘Hi,’ he panted, seemingly out of breath.

‘Are you okay?’ Seungwoo asked, concerned but also amused.

‘Yeah, sort of,’ he pulled a hand through his hair, ‘why? What are you doing here? Did Hanse send you?’

He laughed holding out the bag of food, ‘No Hanse didn’t send me, I’m just here to bring you some food I had left over. Are you rebuilding your room? What were all those crashes?’

Sejun quickly swiped the food from his hand, stomach grumbling as he checked the contents. ‘Ohhhh chicken curry! Nice! Thanks Swoo! Uhh no I just had some issues getting out of my desk chair. It seems not moving for several days kind of makes your legs weak haha.’

Seungwoo frowned and opened his mouth to tell him off, but Sejun quickly interjected: ‘Don’t worry, I’m back on schedule and from now on I don’t have much left to do so I’ll get some exercise in later tonight.’

‘You better!’ Seungwoo scowled at him, but he just laughed.

‘I promise, dad. Thanks for the food!’ And with that he closed the door.

Seungwoo huffed, he wasn’t being a dad, he was just being a good friend! But he decided against starting an argument with Sejun when the other seemed to be in such a good mood, after all the stress he had gone through. What was he going to do anyway? The door was closed, he couldn’t just stand here yelling at a closed door. Instead, he hopped down the stairs to the seventh floor to give Hanse his food.

’Sup?’ Hanse said, leaning against his doorframe.

‘Not much, just here to drop off some food.’

Hanse hummed and looked down at the bag Seungwoo handed him. ‘You didn’t have to, but thanks a lot. I haven’t eaten yet.’

‘It’s nothing, I figured you wouldn’t have a lot of time to make anything, so I made some extra. I just gave Sejun his.’

‘Oh, how is he doing? Is he eating well? Did he say anything?’ Hanse’s expression instantly turned concerned.

Seungwoo supressed a smile, it was so typical of Hanse to get so concerned. On the outside he might seem like an uncaring, tough dude, but if you knew him you couldn’t see him that way. He was so caring and sensitive.

‘He seemed to be in a really good mood, and he said he doesn’t have much left to do. He also hadn’t moved in a while so he fell off his chair, but he would’ve done that regardless I think.’ They both laughed.

‘He can be such a clumsy idiot sometimes.’

‘That is very true,’ Seungwoo said with a fond smile. Sejun did make a sport out of getting into the weirdest accidents, most of them in his own apartment. ‘Is he still not talking to you?’

‘He has answered my texts but he refuses to tell me how he’s doing. Maybe now that he has more time and feels better, I don’t know.’ Hanse sighed and rubbed his eye with his free hand. ‘Anyway, thanks for the food, I see you still have a delivery to make.’

Seungwoo looked down at the last bag in his hand, ‘Yeah, this is for Subin, he slept in my couch last night, hugging my cat. I don’t know how well he’s coping with the stress of exams and stuff so I thought I’d give him some too.’

‘Ah yes, your strangely shy son. Good luck getting him to take your food.’

‘Why does everyone think I’m a dad? I’m not a dad! But thanks, and enjoy your food.'

As he was walking away, he heard Hanse yell: ‘Sure dad!’ He rolled his eyes and stepped onto the stairs to go back down.

He knocked on the door next to his, not really expecting an answer, but still willing to try. To his surprise, the door opened, just barely enough for a pair of big eyes to be visible.

‘Oh, hey,’ a small voice from beyond the crack said.

‘Hey, Subin, I made a bit too much food, so I was wondering if you wanted some? If you already ate you can store it in the fridge.’ Seungwoo said, smiling kindly, though he doubted the younger could see him.

‘Uh, yeah sure,’ Subin said, before opening the door a bit more to allow for the food transfer, ‘thanks.’

At that he closed the door again and left Seungwoo, baffled, but relieved that he took it, in the hallway. He headed back to his own apartment and sank down in the couch, preparing to waste yet another evening to becoming the couch potato he was destined to be.

Later in the evening, however, he heard his door slowly open and looked up to see Subin close the door behind him again as he came into the apartment. He decided not to say anything, not wanting to scare him off. As the small boy shuffled further into the apartment, he let out a soft ‘Hey,’ before sitting down next to Seungwoo, who nodded at him smiling, before turning back to the tv. They sat comfortably like this the rest of the night, just watching tv together silently.

After a while Seungwoo finally spoke up: ‘Feel free to stay the night if you want to, there’s plenty of blankets around here and you can keep watching tv for a while longer. I’m going to go to bed.’ He expected Subin to say that he would rather leave, but the boy simply nodded, too caught up in the movie currently playing to really care. Or maybe he was finally feeling more at home here, Seungwoo thought, content. He got up and walked into his bedroom where he changed into his pyjama’s before collapsing into bed, exhausted. He quickly fell into a long, dreamless sleep.


	3. Red eyes, white bunny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungwoo always dreams in black and white until one day he starts to have a series of colourful dreams which involve a man he has never met before.
> 
> Or: Seungwoo doesn't know he wants romance until he falls in love with the literal man of his dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy!!

It was only six am when Seungwoo opened his eyes that morning. He blearily turned off his alarm and nearly fell back asleep before shooting up and nearly tumbling out of the bed in his hurry to get dressed. He had to be at the store half an hour early today, because he was hosting a small signing event for a small local author. 

“How could I forget?” He thought to himself angrily as he quickly splashed some cold water in his face before getting dressed. It wasn’t like him to be so caught up in other things that he would forget something so important. He just got worried about his friends, is all. The problem was that Tuesdays tended to be busy and preparing the signing was a lot of work.

He nearly bolted into the kitchen but remembered that Subin might still be sleeping so he tiptoed as fast as he could instead. Not that that helped, because in his hurry to eat his breakfast he dropped a plate and several pieces of cutlery on the floor, causing a lot of clattering to echo through the apartment. He looked over to the couch guiltily, but found Subin already awake, sitting up straight and clearly holding back his laughter at how silly Seungwoo looked trying to sneak around for no reason.

If he wasn’t in such a hurry, he would’ve found it embarrassing. Instead, he tried to clean up his mess as fast as he could while simultaneously gulping down a glass of water, resulting in even more of a mess. He sighed and buried his head in his hands, ready to have a full breakdown. The day had barely started and here he was, wanting to crawl back into bed and sleep for another three to four business days.

He looked up when he heard a sound next to him, afraid Onni had made her way over to check if there was something edible. She could hurt herself on the sharp pieces of the plate he broke. But it wasn’t Onni that he found next to him, it was Subin. The boy was quietly picking up the shards and throwing them away in the trash, a cloth protecting his hands.

‘Oh, th- thanks.’ Seungwoo stammered, surprised.

‘It’s nothing, you should go to work before you have any more accidents.’ The younger said, stifling a giggle.

‘Yeah, haha, very funny.’ Seungwoo mumbled before darting out the door. ‘Don’t forget to lock up when you leave! Unless you stay! That’s also cool!’ He yelled as the door was closing behind him and he ran down the stairs, onto the street and across the road, before stopping in his tracks. Onni. He had left his cat at the apartment. He groaned and hit himself in the head, considering going back. He couldn’t though, he had already spotted the author and her manager in front of his store. It would be too rude to keep them waiting longer.

So he trudged up to the store, cat-less, but at least he had lunch, and greeted the two with a friendly, albeit fake, smile: ‘Hello Jiu, Chan, how are you? I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.’

‘Ah, Seungwoo! Not at all!’ ‘Yeah we’ve been here a while.’ The two said in unison. Jiu shot her manager an annoyed look, before turning back to Seungwoo and smiling apologetically. ‘We really haven’t been here that long, it’s fine. How are you?’

Seungwoo eyed Chan suspiciously, but the man was grinning from ear to ear, so he supposed he hadn’t really meant what he said. He smiled again and opened the door to let them in. ‘I’m good, thank you,’ he lied and stepped in after them.

‘Are you sure because you ran up to us as if you were being chased by a ghost and then stopped so fast you nearly gave me whiplash.’ Chan said, looking amused rather than worried.

‘I had a bit of a rough morning, it’s nothing. Shall we begin?’ Seungwoo said, guiding them towards one of the reading tables so they could sit down and go over the plan for the day. He was trying to ignore the teasing, hoping Chan would eventually stop, but it seemed to be the man’s nature to make fun of him every chance he got. If he had more energy, he would try to match him, maybe even outdo him, but now all he could do was repress his sighs and smile wearily.

Soon, well, not soon enough for Seungwoo’s liking, but still soon it was time for the store to open and the signing would begin. They had managed to transform the reading corner into an adorable looking signing corner. He looked at it proudly, most of it had been his idea. He had suggested adding some flowers in various colours, to give a nice late spring vibe. The tablecloth he had brought from home added to it nicely. Though he had to admit, the way Chan had arranged the stands with Jiu’s books was better than what he could have done.

The turn up was better than Seungwoo had had so far, and the rest of the day he was busy handling purchases and cleaning up whenever he had the chance, so he could keep his bookshelves as organized as ever.

‘I didn’t know you had grown this popular Jiu,’ he praised her, remembering how down she had been after her first sign didn’t have as big an audience as she had hoped.

‘I’m as surprised as you are,’ she said, slightly hoarse from talking to so many people all day. ‘Thank you for organizing this, I don’t think many bookstores would have been so willing to give me another chance after last times disaster.’

‘I’m more than happy to have you here, no matter the turn up. It’s one of the things I enjoy most about this job, the people it brings in.’

Jiu smiled brightly at him and pulled a tired looking Chan along to load their car back up. ‘I’ll make sure to come back soon then! But for now I think I have to get this thing home before he falls over.’

Seungwoo chuckled as Chan shot her an annoyed look and grumbled a response he didn’t quite catch before waving once and stepping out the door.

‘Good luck with that. And see you soon then,’ Seungwoo waved them goodbye before tiredly sinking down in his chair behind the counter. He looked around the small store with its many, many books and noticed what a mess it still was. The reading corner was still disorganized and there were flower petals scattered across the floor, together with receipts that missed the bin. He groaned at the prospect of having to clean all this up but got up to do it anyway. The sooner he was done the sooner he could go home to check on Onni and get some rest.

A bit later, he tiredly stumbled into his apartment, expecting an upset, mewling Onni. Instead he spotted her in her corner, curled up under her climbing tree, apparently giving him the cold shoulder. He sighed and put some extra food ready for her, hoping she would take that as an acceptable apology. Then he hopped into the shower, before making a quick meal and sinking down on the couch.  
About two hours into marathoning his newest obsession, he realized Onni still hadn’t moved from her spot. Now worried, he walked over to her and softly patter her back, earning a soft growl.

He pouted at her, trying to think of a way to get her to stop being mad at him. She had never been this angry, so he didn’t really know where to begin. He flopped down on his belly in front of her and softly blew at her, in a way he knew she loved. Her purring told him she was loving it, and he giggled softly at her stubbornness as she pretended to still be mad while her paws were kneading at the soft surface below her.

‘I’m sorry Onni, will you please forgive me?’ he spoke very softly, and he was pleased to see her turn around to face him, her eyes scrutinizing. ‘I won’t leave you home again, I promise.’

At this she softly bumped her head against his. He smiled widely and scratched her ear. She followed him to the couch and leaped up on his lap, content to sleep there the rest of the night.

Once he felt himself get too tired to focus on his series, he gently lifted his white fluffball off his lap and laid her on the couch. Then he trudged to his bedroom, glad to finally get some rest after a long, long day.

_Seungwoo slipped and landed roughly on his back. He looked around confused as he scrambled to get back up. He seemed to be standing on a frozen body of water, grey ice stretching as far as the eye could see. Soft snowflakes were slowly gliding down from the light grey clouds that covered the sky. A soft howling of wolves sounded in the distance. There must be land there, he thought to himself._

_He tried to walk into the direction the sound seemed to have come from, but when he lifted one leg his other slipped right out from under him. He caught himself this time, landing with his hands stretched behind him. The ice wasn’t as cold to the touch as he had expected. He lowered himself onto his knees and hands, and shuffled forward across the ice with a bit more success._

_The progress was slow, and it felt like he had been crawling for almost an hour when he finally saw a slight rise in the landscape. It looked like that was the bank, covered in a thick layer of snow. He shuffled forward, startling as a sudden movement to his left caught his eye. A small white bunny jumped out of the snow and hopped away out of sight._   
_He shook himself, starting his movement towards the shore again. He heaved himself onto the snowy bank and took a few seconds to catch his breath from the laborious journey. The snow felt oddly dry and he was surprised his hands didn’t feel too cold. He would have expected the lengthy contact with the ice would’ve given his bare hands several degrees of frostbite, but when he lifted them to look at them they weren’t even red with the cold._

_He frowned as he pushed himself upright, his legs feeling slightly like jelly. He rubbed the powdery snow off his pants and took in his surroundings. The white landscape stretched as far as his eyes could see, the only break being a weird looking silhouette of a tree to his right, close to the bank. He felt a sense of hopelessness wash over him. How was he ever going to get out of here?_

_He decided his best chance was to hug the line that separated ice from snow and try to find some form of civilisation. He figured people would build their settlements near water, especially if this was a freshwater lake. It was his only chance. He started in the direction of the weirdly shaped tree. It seemed to wobble then, swaying in place. ‘Strange,’ Seungwoo thought to himself, ‘there’s no wind.’_

_He stumbled along through the snow, sinking to his knees with every step. It was heavy, and he seemed to be making no progress. The tree might have grown a bit larger, but it was still far away. It wobbled more and more and Seungwoo grew anxious. It seemed further along a storm was brewing, and he was walking directly into it. He could turn, but that would negate all the progress he had made so far. Plus, the storm would catch up with him, slow as he was._

_He wondered briefly if it would be faster to just crawl along the ice. Right as he was about to give it a try the snow seemed to become less deep, and now he only sank halfway to his knees. The walking became less difficult, and it seemed to go faster now. A little bit of hope fluttered through his stomach as the silhouette now became bigger with every step. It seemed to be just a small tree, but it was the only thing keeping him going. Nothing appeared behind the tree, no signs of civilisation or shelter._

_Then suddenly, as if a strong gust of wind swept through, though Seungwoo still didn’t feel any, the tree fell sideways. It bent in a way that no tree should, laying completely flat, no branches sticking out. Suddenly the clouds brightened, as if the sun had risen, and Seungwoo saw that what he had taken for a tree in this desolate wasteland, had been a man. He was half buried under the large backpack that he had been carrying, hiding his shape._

_Seungwoo started running, or well stumbling even faster as running was impossible. The snow seemed to get shallower with every step as he ran, but he never seemed to get any closer. He screamed at the body, hoping in vain to see it move. It looked like he had collapsed from exhaustion. Seungwoo had to get to him, to keep him warm and to get him to safety. He kept running, but now he seemed to be moving the wrong way, the body growing more and more distant. He tripped, and he saw the ground getting closer as he threw his arms forward to catch himself. A small white bunny jumped out of the way, its red eyes wide with alarm. Right before he hit the snow Seungwoo realized that the man he had seen had no colour. Another dream._

With a loud thud his body hit the floor next to his bed. He groaned and opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling. Confusion hit him. There had been a person in his dream this time. And colour, he remembered the red bunny eyes all too vividly. He frowned and rubbed the back of his head, sore from hitting the floor. He winced as he tried to get up, feeling bruised all over. He wracked his brain to see if he had known the man from his dreams but came up with nothing. 

He rubbed his eyes and yawned, stretching his entire body in an attempt to get rid of some of the soreness. He would discuss his dream with his friends after work, maybe they could make more sense of it. He sauntered into the kitchen and made his breakfast, moving slower than usual because of the stiffness in his shoulders. He was glad it was still so early, he had more than enough time to slowly eat his breakfast and even take a shower. He felt oddly rested as he slumped onto the couch to kill the remaining hour by watching some more tv.

He couldn’t keep his mind off the dream for longer than a few minutes that day. He kept seeing the image of the man falling over, and the bunny with the wide red eyes. What did it mean? Why was he suddenly dreaming with colour? And for there to be another person, he had never experienced that before. The more he thought it over the less sense it made. Slowly but surely, he became convinced he was losing his mind because of the sleep deprivation. It didn’t help that he kept messing up the placements of his books. This was nothing like him.  
He was glad when the time came to close up. He walked home with a purring Onni on his shoulder and immediately took out his phone to text his friends.

 **Sw:** hey twats wanna come over tnight?

 **Hs:** omg yes uwu

 **Sj:** Yeah, that would be nice

 **Sw:** … did your souls get switched and now you have to admit your love for each other to reverse it

 **Sj:** What no, why is that your first conclusion?

 **Hs:** close, we traded phones but forgot :3

 **Sw:** then trade back??

 **Sj:** Yeah once I’m done looking through his photos for blackmail material.

 **Hs:** WAIT WHAT

 **Hs:** GIVE IT BACK NOW

 **Sj:** Hehehehehheheh

 **Sw:** … good luck sejun

 **Sw:** feel free to come whenever

He put his phone away smiling and settled in the couch to wait for his friends, Onni curling up on his lap. 


	4. Stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungwoo always dreams in black and white until one day he starts to have a series of colourful dreams which involve a man he has never met before.
> 
> Or: Seungwoo doesn't know he wants romance until he falls in love with the literal man of his dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i dont know what to put here anymore so: enjoy the chapter :3

Seungwoo had barely finished eating the quickly heated up leftovers from several days back when he heard a knock at the door. He quickly threw his dishes in the sink and raced over to get it, eager for a second opinion on his sanity, or whatever was left of it. Even his favourite drama hadn’t been able to distract his brain from conjuring up the images of that previous night.

When he opened the door, he was surprised to find not two, but three people there waiting for him. ‘Oh hey you brought Subinnie!’ He said, noticing the small figure hunched behind his friends.  
He could swear a small blush crept up on Sejun’s cheeks as he answered; ‘Oh yeah we bumped into him in the hallway, you don’t mind right?’

He shook his head softly and stepped aside to let them in with a bright smile. Hanse had a smirk plastered on his face, which would’ve raised his suspicion if it wasn’t the younger’s go-to expression. Subin smiled at him and then ran to the couch where he spotted a white curled up fluffball waiting for cuddles. Seunwoo closed the door and followed, while Hanse and Sejun robbed his kitchen of anything edible they could find.

He sat down on the floor, though he knew four people could sit on his couch he didn’t want to force Subin to sit too close to them, fearing it would scare him off. Sejun wandered over with his arms full of snacks, while Hanse was still raiding the fridge for drinks. He dumped the snacks on the low kitchen table and moved to sit on the far end of the couch, away from Subin. Before he could even move to sit down, however, Hanse jumped around the table with three bottles of soda in his arms and hopped onto the couch in his spot.

Sejun huffed, an annoyed blush creeping into his neck. He sat down grumpily, trapped between the two others. Hanse smiled cheekily and set the drinks down. Seungwoo eyed him with an eyebrow pulled up. ‘What about cups?’ he asked him, ‘we don’t drink from the bottles in this house.’

The smile disappeared from his face, but before he could think about how to get cups without getting up from his spot, Subin got up and wandered to the kitchen. ‘Oh, the second cupboard from the fridge!’ Seungwoo said quickly, as he saw Subin reach for a cupboard to start his search. He quickly retrieved four glasses and walked back to sit in his spot, pulling his knees up to his chin and hugging them with a content smile. Seungwoo saw a look of adoration flash across Sejun’s face, one that probably closely resembled his own. He was very adorable when he sat like that.

They quickly fell into comfortable conversation as drinks were being passed around and snacks were spilled more than eaten. Seungwoo couldn’t be angry, he felt too at peace, for a moment forgetting what he had called them over for. A small frown appeared on his face as he tried to think of a way to broach the subject. He didn’t have to, because Hanse decided to do it for him.

‘You look better rested than I’ve seen you in a while,’ he said, as Sejun bickered with Subin about who got to eat the last shrimp chip. Both of them were insisting the other should.

‘Yeah, I actually called you over to talk about that...’ his sentence trailed off and he scratched his neck, worrying slightly that his friends might think him insane if he explained why he slept better. He decided to just get it over with. ‘Something happened in my dream last night.’

Hanse cocked one eyebrow, telling him to explain, but before he could get started on his dream-story they heard a soft screech from the other side of the couch. It appeared that Subin had successfully shoved the chip into Sejun’s mouth, but now his finger was trapped between his teeth. He giggled into his free hand while Sejun smiled triumphantly. Seungwoo’s jaw dropped at the sight of them being so close and Hanse leaned toward him to give some insight.

"When I traded phones with him yesterday, I discovered he and Subin had exchanged numbers, and they had a really long chat history. Apparently they got really close now." He whispered into his ear. Subin had managed to retrieve is finger and was now swatting half-heartedly at a smug looking Sejun. Seungwoo smiled at their antics and nodded understandingly. He was glad the two of them got along so well.

Figuring it was probably for the best to consult Hanse, who would take him much more seriously than Sejun could, he quietly relayed his dream to him, telling him every detail he could remember. The other was very quiet during his story, a look of deep concentration on his face. “And then I woke up on the floor.” He finished his story and looked down, waiting for the other's judgement.

“Hmm... Maybe you’re like healing or something? From whatever was causing the weird colourlessness of your dreams?” He offered, hopeful. “Maybe you’ll get all colour back! Then you can finally rest properly I mean you already look so much better.”

Seungwoo thought about that. Maybe he was right, maybe this meant the start of good nights rests. He couldn’t be too hopeful, what iutit stopped and he went right back to being exhausted? “I don’t know, it seems a little early to think that... It's only one dream... And it wouldn’t explain the strange man I’ve never seen before.”

“That’s probably someone you’ve passed on the street or something, I’ve read that your brain can’t imagine someone you haven’t ever seen before.” Hanse said, nodding to himself. “I’m sure your brain is finally becoming normal buddy, congratulations.”

“Oooooh what are we celebrating?” Sejun was leaning over to their side now, finally having noticed the silent conversation they were having and his eyes were bright with interest.

“Swoo has decided to become normal.” Hanse chuckled as Seungwoo took a swing at his head. “He had an almost normal dream with some colour and a person!” He quickly recapped the dream for him.

Sejun's mouth fell open in a perfect o, while Subin scooted closer, also curious. “So that’s why you look, well, not dead?” He said, gesturing vaguely at Seungwoo.

“Yeah, I guess so. I'm not expecting it to happen again though.”

“Wait who was the person in the dream then?” Subin piped up. “Maybe someone you met recently? Are they important to you?”

Seungwoo shook his head, “No, I've never seen him before I don’t think.” Subin's face turned thoughtful and he felt a bit guilty for bringing up a heavy topic when they were having so much fun. “It's probably nothing, I just thought I'd see what you guys think.”

He hoped that would end the conversation, but Sejun's head suddenly jerked up, a bright expression on his face that Seungwoo didn’t like one bit. “What if it's someone he hasn’t met yet? Someone of great importance, maybe someone who will save his life! Or who's life he has to save? Maybe you should travel to the Arctic to see if you can find him!”

They all burst out laughing at that, even Subin couldn’t stop himself from giggling. Hanse was the first to calm down, wiping his tears and looking at Sejun incredulously. “You want him to search the entire Arctic for one person? How on earth is he going to do that?” 

Sejun's face fell as he realized his idea wasn’t so brilliant as he thought. “Ah I hadn’t thought of that..”  
Subin chuckled and patted him on the arm. ‘It wouldn’t be such a terrible thought if we had more to go on, like a more precise location than 'snowy'.”

He became excited again at that. “Maybe he'll dream about it again! Then he can find out more about the guy and the location!” They quickly became wrapped up in possible scenarios for Seungwoo's next dream, speculating about who the man was and where they could have been. Seungwoo himself, who found their suggestions more and more ridiculous, was contend to just listen, occasionally laughing.

As the night wore on conversation flowed freely between the four of them as soda bottles were drained and snack bags emptied. At some point Subin had curled up and fallen asleep, Onni perched on top of him and kneading dough into his side.  
“Maybe we should get him back to his apartment, so he can sleep properly.” Sejun said, an adoring look on his face. His hand reached out as if to wipe the sleeping boy’s hair out of his face, but he let it fall back into his lap.

“Oh no, he likes sleeping here, just throw a blanket over him.” Seungwoo answered while moving to clean up the mess they'd made. He didn't notice the frown that crossed Sejun’s face at this. He did as he was told, however, and then got up to help.

Once everything was back to it’s previous, sort of tidy state, Sejun and Hanse whispered their goodnights and tiptoed out the door. Seungwoo, noticing it was already past midnight, got himself ready for bed and dove under the covers. He couldn’t help but feel a sparkle of hope that tonight he would dream of the man again, so he would awake feeling rested.

_When Seungwoo opened his eyes he was sitting in a thick layer of snow on the bank of a wide body of frozen water. He frowned, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu wash over him at the sight. He got up to get a better look, slapping the snow off his legs and butt. He slowly turned to get a good look of his surroundings._

_Where there was no snow there was ice, and where there was no ice there was snow, as far as the eye could see. Along the lake was a lonely looking tree... No, not a tree, a man! Seungwoo perked up, remembering the last time he was here, and how what he thought was a tree turned out to be a man struggling through the snow._

_He frowned. Why was he experiencing the same thing again? But before he could think much about it the man swerved, threatening to topple into the snow. He quickly got himself moving, struggling through the knee deep snow with the lake to his right. He remembered thinking the lake might be faster, but then he would have to get on his poor knees; the lake was too slippery to stand on. Instead, he moved slightly closer to the ice, where the snow became a bit thinner and he could move a bit faster._

_The man swerved again, and Seungwoo quickened his pace even more, struggling to throw himself forward. The shape came closer and became more defined, he could make out the bright orange backpack on his shoulders. The snow seemed to get less deep here and moving was easier. He felt a great sense of urgency to get to the man and make sure this time he wouldn’t fall over. He rushed forward, but he didn’t seem to be gaining much ground. Every step seemed to be equivalent to a shuffle._

_Finally, he reached the other, who looked like he was about to collapse, as Seungwoo knew he would. He quickly stood next to him, grabbing his arm and throwing it over his shoulder, so he would lean into him. The man seemed surprised, but unable to react as his body slumped into Seungwoo. “Thanks,” he mumbled, his eyes drooping shut. Right then, the sun broke through the trees and Seungwoo's heart hurt at the sight of the beautiful, bit dead tired man beside him. He wanted to lift the burdens right off his shoulders, but all he could think to do was take off his backpack. He couldn’t move without dropping the man, so even that was not an option._

_A distressed noise made its way through his nose as the man slumped further against him. He couldn’t hold both of them up much longer, so he opted to slowly lower himself to the ground, the beautiful stranger sliding down with him. Once he was seated, he carefully attempted to manoeuvre the man to sit in his arms, to keep him warm. He clumsily succeeded and then slipped the backpack off him. It landed with a thud in the snow, scaring a snow-white bunny that he hadn’t noticed sitting there. It looked at him with big red eyes before darting off. Sudden realization washed over Seungwoo as he felt his mind drift back to consciousness: it had been a dream, again._

He squeezed his eyes shut until soft sparkling stars appeared in the darkness. When he opened them, it took a while for the black spots and stars to recede. He groaned and checked his phone for the time and noticed he had only half an hour left before his alarm went off. He sighed and turned around closing his eyes again, but that was no good. Images of the gorgeous man from his dreams danced in front of his eyes, alternating with red-eyed rabbits. He opened them again and frowned at the ceiling.

It looked like Hanse had been right and his brain was recovering, seeing as now even the backpack had had a cuolour. He also felt very well rested, even though the dream had been stressful and full of physical activity. And he didn't even fall out of bed this time. So why was he so disgruntled? He already knew the answer, and he shook his head, covering his eyes and letting out a soft groan. Because it had ended. He was upset that the dream came to an end before he had even been able to talk to the man. But that made no sense!

“It. Was. Just. A. Dream!” he hissed into his hands, but he didn’t really believe it himself. He would’ve remembered seeing such a pretty face, but he had never seen this man before. Then how did he appear in his dreams? Was he a figment of his imagination? No, his brain wasn’t creative enough. Then what? Magic? He groaned again and threw himself out of bed. He needed a cold shower to come to his senses.

The cold shower did help, for a little while, but by the time he had finished breakfast and said bye to Subin, his head was swimming with thoughts about the prettiest man he had ever seen. He caught himself wondering if he would see him again tonight more than once. At one point he huffed, annoyed at himself, startling a sweet old lady who had wanted to check out a few books. He quickly apologized and from then on refused to allow another thought to creep into his head, focussing fully on his work.


	5. Colours and white

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungwoo always dreams in black and white until one day he starts to have a series of colourful dreams which involve a man he has never met before.
> 
> Or: Seungwoo doesn't know he wants romance until he falls in love with the literal man of his dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> seungwoo does some research
> 
> i hope this is still fun to read! dont be shy to leave some comments :3

A few hours later he found himself sitting on his living room floor, surrounded by books on sleep, dreams and everything that had to do with the subject. He didn’t really know what he was looking for. An explanation? A shared experience? Hope that he wasn’t going absolutely crazy? Maybe all of those. He threw a book about sleeping brains aside, frustrated at all the difficult terms he couldn’t understand. He had leaved trough over five books now, and found nothing.

He picked up his phone to check the time and noticed that someone had spammed the groupchat. He sighed, not wanting to deal with anyone but himself right now, but then another message notification popped up and it contained his name in all caps. Shaking his head, he opened the chat, thinking one of the two was overly worried about his silence. And he was right, partially.

_3 hours ago_

**Hs:** Hey Snoops did you dream  
again?

_2 hours ago_

**Hs:** .... Seungwooz?

 **Hs:** Snooooooooooo!

 **Sj:** maybe hes asleep?

 **Hs:** At 8 pm? Is he a 5-year-old?

 **Sj:** :c he needs his sleep

 **Hs:** He is a hag, but also a night owl, so he won’t sleep this early.

 _Now_

**Hs:** SEEEUNGGGGWOOOO

 **Sj:** Snoopy uwu come here

 **Sj:** Hanse is being mean to me dad I need u

 **Hs:** I'm not doing anything??? Shut up Sejun.

 **Sw:** i am not a hag!! and dont be mean to sejun hes trying his best, whatever hes doing.

 **Sj:** thanks but also hey >:c and he lives!!!

 **Hs:** You are hag. Welcome to the land of the awake? The living? What have you been doing?

 **Sw:** i uhhhh got a bit caught up

 **Hs:** Don’t tell me you stayed at work this late..

 **Sw:** no! its not that its just i... am reading books?

 **Sj:** HAHAHAHA NICE ONE

 **Sw:** im serious? i took some books home but also i read books?? why do you think i dont i literally own a BOOK store

 **Sj:** ok good point

 **Hs:** Ok Sejun’s lack of braincells aside, what are you reading? oO

 **Sw:** ah its nothing really haha

 **Hs:** Sus, very sus.

 **Sj:** is it what i think it is...

 **Sw:** its definitely not whatever you think it is omg

 **Sj:** oh so it isnt stuff about ur dreams?

 **Sw:** ok.. scrap that its exactly what you think it is

 **Hs:** YOU HAD ANOTHER ONE DIDN’T YOU? AND YOU DIDN’T TELL US???

 **Sw:** maybeee

 **Sw:** look im sorry but i just got so caught up in trying to make sense of it all that i forgot :((

 **Hs:** Well then, tell us now. :)

 **Sj:** its ok if u dont wanna talk about it c:

 **Hs:** But please do. :)

 **Sw:** yeah ill tell you guys just try not to jump to conclusions im still trying to figure this out

 **Sj:** :x

 **Hs:** :x

 **Sw:** thanks,, n e way i had the same dream last night except this time i was already on the shore and got to the man in time

 **Sw:** oh and his backpack was orange?

 **Sw:** and he talked

 **Sw:** i held him a bit

 **Hs:** What do you mean you held him a bit?

 **Sj:** what did he say :o

 **Sw:** well remember last time he fell? this time i was there in time so i caught him and helped him sit right before i woke up and he thanked me

 **Sj:** he thanked u? thats all?

 **Sw:** well yeah what else is there

 **Sj:** what did he sound like? what did he look like? were u able to recognize him? did he hold you too?

 **Sw:** ok wow calm down with the questionss

 **Sw:** he had a kind of... warm voice? ig? and he was sort of beautiful? but no i dont know him and he was pretty much passed out when i held him

 **Sw:** i cant have known him.. i wouldve remembered

 **Sj:** That Pretty huh

 **Sj:** I’m sticking with my theory uwu

 **Sw:** Hanse? youve been quiet

 **Hs:** I am jumping silently.

 **Sw:** jumping?

 **Sj:** why and how

 **Hs:** Jumping to conclusions, but silently.

 **Sw:** OH well, thanks

 **Sw:** i havent found anything about it yet, ill keep you guys updated

 **Hs:** Ok good luck, tell us if you need us.

 **Sj:** oki have fun reading boring books

 **Sw:** lmao yeah thanks will do

With a sigh he put his phone away and reached for another book on the theory of dreams. He quickly skimmed through the pages, not really expecting to find anything new in this one. Once he had finished it, he put it to the side on the small pile of books that he had finished. Next to it was the enormous pile of books that he hadn’t even started yet. He picked another at random and started again.

It was late and his eyes were drooping when he finally decided he couldn’t stand skimming through yet another book filled with weird scientific terms and pictures of brains. He put the book he had open on his lap back in the “to read” pile and simply walked over to his bed, where he managed to get into his pj's before he collapsed. Squished between several plushies and his blanket he quickly fell into a comfortable slumber.

_He opened his eyes to a bright sun at a weird angle in the sky. He knew where he was, he could feel the cold of the snow under him. He was There again, wherever There was. He tried to sit up but an unfamiliar weight was pinning him down. He craned his head down to see what it was and if he could move it, and was met with the peacefully asleep face of the gorgeous stranger he had tried to help before. He fought back a squeal at how adorable the other looked with his eyes closed and mouth slightly hanging open. His dark brown, soft hair was splayed out across his chest and his cheeks were a soft pink. He laid his head back down, not wanting the other to wake up and find him gawking at him, and resorted to staring up into the sky, watching the clouds disperse as the sun slowly rose, but stayed close to the horizon._

_He didn’t know how much time had passed when he felt the man stir and try to sit up. He quickly moved with him, supporting him as he got his bearings. He blinked his soft brown eyes dazedly at him and Seungwoo fought back a smile. The man cocked his head like a cute but lost puppy, his messy hair flopping to the side. Before he could say anything he almost lost his balance, threatening to topple backwards under the weight of his backpack._

_“Let me help you get that,” Seungwoo scrambled to get up and carefully slid the backpack off his shoulders, before setting it down in the snow next to them. The man frowned at it and carefully poked it with his index finger. A soft giggle escaped Seungwoo and the man looked up wide-eyed. “Is your backpack okay?” He asked, a blush creeping up in his neck as the other continued to stare at him._

_“Hm? Oh, yeah, I don’t know? I mean I’ve never seen it before..” He said, turning to the backpack again and scrunching his nose. “It’s ugly.”_

_Seungwoo couldn’t help but chuckle, he was just so adorable. “So it’s not yours? It was on your back.”_   
_“Was it there the entire time?” He pulled it towards himself and started to open the straps, presumably to see what was inside._

_“The entire time? I don’t know how long you’ve been walking but I’m assuming you had it when you started.” He reached out to help him empty the dozens of pockets on the big backpack. There were some maps, books, a water bottle and snacks. “Huh, looks like a typical travelling backpack, only without any sleeping supplies.”_

_“Yeah, I guess that makes sense, I have been walking for a long time. I suppose I was travelling.” He mumbled, before taking the water bottle and carefully sniffing the contents._

_“How long?” Seungwoo wondered. Could the man have been here before him? Yes of course why couldn’t he. He got sad thinking about the other wandering around the desolate snowscape, all alone..._

_“Uhh a few days at the very least, I didn’t really keep track, it might have been a week..” He scratched his head, looking a bit awkward, “now that I think about it, I don’t really remember the start, I just remember walking, and feeling so so tired the further I went. I don’t even know why I was walking.” He looked down at the bottle his hands were idly playing with and let out an embarrassed chuckle. “I must sound crazy to you, oh my god.”_

_“No! Not at all I mean when I got here I just kind of started walking in a random direction.. well crawling since I was on the ice and couldn’t stand. And then I saw you, well I thought you were a tree, and just kind of walked this way.” He rambled, trying to make the pout that had crept up on the man's face go away. It worked, the man looked up, a small smile playing around his lips._

_“You thought I was a tree?” He chuckled. And Seungwoo blushed, a bit embarrassed himself now._

_“Well yeah, your backpack gave you this weird shape and I was really really far away like over there,” he pointed to where he had started walking, “and then you swayed as if there was wind it looked pretty tree-like I guess. Until you fell over that is.”_

_“Ah yes I remember falling.. I think. I don’t remember seeing you, or getting up. It’s all such a blur and hard to make sense of.” He rubbed his temples, trying to clear his head._

_“Yeah it doesn’t seem to make sense. Why are we even here? And where is here? It’s some desert wasteland, I’ve never been here before.”_

_“Desert?” he snorted, “I see no sand.”_

_“Ah well deserts are classified by the amount of precipitation, either rain or snow or hail, that falls every year. This is everlasting snow and not a lot new snow falls so it’s technically a desert.” He said, gesturing vaguely to the clear sky._

_“Ah, okay I see. Are you a weather expert?” He asked, a curious look on his face._

_“Oh no sorry I just happen to read a lot of books! I just blurt out random facts sometimes, I'm so sorry!” He hastily apologized, worried he had bored the other._

_“No it’s fine, it’s interesting really!” He smiled warmly. Seungwoo stared at him, temporarily forgetting what they were talking about. He had already been the most beautiful man he had ever seen, but his smile made him simply radiant, an angel._

_“Oh my god I haven’t even introduced myself yet!” He yelled out, snapping Seungwoo out of it. “Hi, my name is Seungsik,” he held out his hand, “may I know yours?”_

_“S-Seungwoo, nice to meet you. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself either.” He stammered, shaking Seungsik’s hand. What a beautiful name, he thought._

_“Which one, mine or yours?” Seungsik giggled._

_“Ah, did I say that out loud? I'm sorry.” He felt warmth spread to his cheeks and ducked his head to hide his embarrassment. Seungsik whispered something that he didn’t catch and shook his head._

_“It's alright, thanks for the compliment. It’s nice meeting you too, though the circumstances aren’t ideal lol,” he said, pulling a hand through his hair as he looked around. Seungwoo glanced up and followed his gaze out over the lake._

_“Yeah,” it came out as a whisper and he cleared his throat. “Yeah, I don’t really know what we’re supposed to do now.”_

_“I don’t know either. It’s weird, I don’t feel like I should walk anymore. I used to find it the most important thing ever. I felt like if I didn’t walk, something would go terribly wrong. It’s also not even that cold here, we’re sitting in the snow we should be freezing our butts off. It’s all so strange...”_

_Right then a movement to their right caught Seungwoo’s eye and he turned to see a small bunny hop around the shore. He could feel his brain trying to make a connection between the cute little thing, and something else, something that he should realize. That he should’ve realized sooner. “That’s because it’s a dream,” he said, turning to look at the other who was staring at him, his mouth agape, “that’s why it’s not cold, but, there’s so many colours now I don’t understand.”_

_Seungsik made a strangled noise and shook himself out of his stupor. “Colours? Why shouldn’t there be? What’s wrong?”_

_But his voice was fading. The world around them was fading, slowly, to black._

He groaned and firmly kept his eyes shut, despite the soft buzzing of his phone's alarm. He wanted to go back, he didn’t want to wake up, not yet. There were so many unanswered questions. He laid there until his phone gave up on trying to wake him, and then continued to lay there until he was sure he couldn’t possibly fall back asleep. Disgruntled he rolled himself out of bed, determined to get through the day so he could dive back into the pile of unread books in his living room.

The day was rather uneventful for a Friday, which usually would be a blessing to Seungwoo after such a long and confusing week, but now it was a curse. He needed something to distract his mind from wandering back to his dream world. So he went through the entire store, reorganizing and cleaning all the shelves and books. By the time he had done the entire store there was only an hour left before closing time. He realized belatedly he didn’t have lunch, so he decided to spend the remainder of the time thinking of things he could order for dinner that night.

He settled on a chicken sandwich with a large portion of fries, and got his phone out to already place his order. He contemplated sending his friends a message to tell them about his dream, but then he remembered they were at some end of the year dinner with a few of their classmates. They had been excited to go, and Seungwoo didn’t want to butt into their evening.

He walked home with Onni and quickly showered before the delivery guy came. He quickly shoved the food into his mouth, not wanting to dirty any of the books with grease and threw out the trash. Then he sat back down in the same spot as he had last night and pulled the book he had ended on back to him.  
A few hours later he had significantly increased the “read” pile. He grabbed a new book titled “Dreams and the like”, a vague and suspicious title on a cover that showed a crystal ball with smoke around it, and opened it, expecting to quickly discard it. A few words in the contents page caught his attention, however , and he quickly searched for the page where chapter 8: “dream-sharing theories and experiences” started. Curiously he started reading the chapter.

By the end of it he had learned two things: first that dream-sharing was widely believed to be scientifically impossible and second that the experiences he read about were nothing like his. Usually these people had had similar dreams to one another, sharing settings and concepts. Or they had planned it, that was done by “lucid dreamers”: people who are aware that they are dreaming and are able to manipulate the dream world they are in. He had encountered that before in a book, and written some key points down, since he was often aware that he was dreaming, but had never tried to alter the dreams. These people would try to decide on a location or setting and then “meet” the other person in their dream. The idea was to both become lucid, and then in the dream travel to a predetermined location, and then compare the details after to see if the meet-up was successful.

Neither of these scenarios described Seungwoo’s case, as he had never met Seunsik in real life, so he couldn’t have planned out the dream, or happened to have a similar dream. He didn’t even know if the other was actually real or not. His brain started hurting from all the reading and thinking, so he decided to put the book back on the “to read” pile. That way he could make sure he remembered to check the other chapters for interesting content the next day. He got ready for bed and sank down into his pile of plushies, thinking of ways to check if he was dreaming, hoping he would take that information with him in his sleep.


	6. Dreamworld adventures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungwoo always dreams in black and white until one day he starts to have a series of colourful dreams which involve a man he has never met before.
> 
> Or: Seungwoo doesn't know he wants romance until he falls in love with the literal man of his dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter 6 already ^-^ have fun reading <3

_The world around him was suddenly bright again, white everywhere, except for right in front of him, where a man he now knew the name of was staring across the lake. “Seungsik?” He called softly._   
_Seungsik slowly blinked and looked over at him._

_“Seungwoo! Hey!” He looked around himself. “So we’re here again, huh?”_

_“Again? Did we ever leave?” He asked, bewildered._

_“Well not really, I guess, but we did wake up. It’s like you said last time, I’m dreaming.” He said with a sad smile._

_“You’re dreaming? What about me?” He was confused, if Seungsik was dreaming, then how could he not be?_

_“Well, if this is my dream, I guess you would only exist here, in my head. But I suppose you think the same of me?” His smile had turned into a scowl, that he directed at the snow. “I mean, that’s how dreams work right? You imagine a bunch of stuff, and people, and then you wake up.”_

_“I don’t think you’re only in my head... this might sound a bit insane and I suppose I am, but I've never dreamt about people before. Animals, yes, but no people. And then suddenly you show up, someone I’ve never met before, and that’s impossible because apparently brains can’t think of new faces so you have to have seen the people in your dreams. But I would’ve remembered you, so no, I don’t think you only exist in my brain. It’s impossible.” Seungwoo rambled, a soft frown on his face as he put his thoughts into words._

_“You would’ve remembered me? How so?” He asked, tilting his head to the side cutely._

_“Because you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen,” is what he would’ve said, if he wanted to creep him out and chase him away. He shook his head, a soft blush on his cheek, as he tried to think of an excuse. “I don’t know.. I just feel like I would’ve?”_

_Seungsik shook his head giggling softly. “Silly. So explain to me then, why you mentioned colours last time. You said it was strange there were colours, because it was a dream?”_

_He nodded, thinking the other was probably already convinced he was crazy, and he couldn’t really make it any worse could he now. “Yeah you see before my dreams started including you, there were also never any colours. It was always black and white, and honestly there weren’t even any emotions.”_

_“There are emotions now?” He was genuinely intrigued. Maybe he didn’t think Seungwoo was crazy after all._

_“Yeah plenty, just like the colours, they all came back.”_

_“Huh, your dreams must’ve really sucked before.” He stated, his bottom lip jutting out ever so slightly. Did he feel bad for Seungwoo? He nearly had to pinch himself just to keep from squealing at how cute he was. He shook his head, clearing it._

_“Not so bad, I mean I couldn’t be scared either, so there weren’t any nightmares. I just always woke up feeling so tired. But not anymore!” He added hastily, noticing how the other’s pout grew more profound at his words. “Now I feel super well rested.”_

_Seungsik smiled brightly at this, a wide and toothy smile that lit up the whole world, at least to Seungwoo._ _“That’s good! I'm glad..” He trailed off, his cheeks a soft pink tint. Seungwoo was too busy hiding his own blush to notice. He was glad, why did that make him so happy? “Ah, what should we do now, we shouldn’t stay here in the snow.” He interrupted his thoughts. An idea popped into his head._

_“Ah well yes- I mean, one time I read something about people who knew they were dreaming, and manipulated their dreams. Maybe we could try, you know to change.. this.” He gestured at the landscape surrounding them. “We could go somewhere else!”_   
_He leaned towards him, excited now. “Where should we go? Where can we go?”_

_“Anywhere! Just imagine a place you really want to go to, and it should appear!” He said, excited too now. There were so many places they could go, things they could do. But... wouldn’t Seungsik rather go alone? He barely knew Seungwoo, it would make sense he’d want to get away from him and explore his dream world alone. He tried his best not to let his face fall as he realized this. The other looked to be in deep concentration, probably thinking of places to go. He looked down and fiddled with his hands while he voiced his thoughts: “Uhm, it’s cool if you want to, like, go alone or something. I get it.” He said, softly. For a bit they were both quiet, and Seungwoo started to think he hadn’t heard him, but then he answered, just as softly._

_“Would you want to go together?”_

_He looked up to see Seungsik biting his lip, nervous. “Yeah I’d love to.” He blurted out before he could think about it. He was about to correct himself, to sound a bit less desperate, but a soft smile from the other changed his mind._

_“Good, I think I would prefer going together.” He said, and Seungwoo couldn’t help but smile back._

_“Alright then, take us somewhere, anywhere you want.”_

_“Okay, but if you don’t like it please tell me we can change it.” He said, flustered, and he scowled in concentration. Slowly but surely the snowy landscape around them transformed, the snow making way for soft but high grass. Here and there a tree jumped out of the ground, which was now waving itself to form slight hillsides. The sun moved, but stayed low to the horizon, slowly sinking into a sunset above a lake that was no longer frozen._

_“Woah,” Seungwoo said, words failing him. This place was amazing. The light of the sunset reflected off the water and sparkled his vision with tiny bright spots._

_“You like it?” Seungsik asked, hopeful._

_“It’s gorgeous,” he said, not feeling like he was doing the place enough justice. “I love it, it’s so peaceful.”_

_He smiled and his eyes turned into little crescent moons. “I used to go here often to unwind after a stressful week, or if I have much to think about.” He gently moved his hand through the grass that almost reached their shoulders. “I forgot how much it calms me to be here. I’ve never had company before though.”_

_“You don’t go anymore?” He said, ignoring how his heart leaped at the thought of being the first he shared this special place with._

_“No, I moved, now I go to the park near my apartment. It’s not as good but it’s still nice.”_

_“Oh, well, I’m glad you took me here, it’s nice.” He said awkwardly._

_“I’m happy. I was worried you weren’t a nature person or something.” He got up and reached out a hand to help Seungwoo up. “Let’s walk a bit, it'll be a nice change from ploughing through the snow.”_

_He took his hand, butterflies fluttering in his stomach at the contact. This was bad, he was falling, he couldn’t fall for someone he hadn’t even met in real life. But he was just so nice, and pretty, and fun to be around he couldn’t help himself._

_“If you don’t want to walk we don’t have to,” He laughed softly at Seungwoo, who was just standing there staring into the distance._

_“Hm? Oh, no sorry I just, lost my train for a second.” He felt his ears heat up, but Seungsik broke into laughter and he frowned, forgetting his embarrassment._

_“What’s so funny?”_

_“You- you lost your- what train?” He asked between giggles._

_“My train of thought!” He almost yelled, embarrassed. With Hanse and Sejun he almost never fully finished his sentences and neither did they. He had gotten a bit comfortable and slipped into his habit and now he was being laughed at. But his laughter was infectious and soon Seungwoo was giggling along with him. “Stop! It wasn’t that funny!” He chuckled as Seungsik nearly fell to the floor._

_“Sorry I just didn’t see that one coming,” he said, as he wiped the tears from his eyes, “let’s walk, shall we?”_

_He nodded and gestured around them. “Lead the way.”_   
_At this, he intertwined his hand with his, and started walking. Seungwoo tried to focus on where to put his feet, but his hand was so warm and so was his smile, and all he could do was stare at him as he cheerfully led them down the hill towards the lake, where the last remnants of the sun were still visible. The light of it sparkled in his eyes and glinted off his cheeks, and he wanted to squish them and... But he stopped himself, before he got too far ahead of himself. Get a grip, you barely know him! He scolded himself silently._

_Suddenly, Seungsik stopped and Seungwoo was pulled from his thoughts as he discovered that they had already reached the lake. The water broke in soft waves on thousands of rocks laying all around them. He let go of his hand and carefully stepped forward to where the water covered the rocks._

_“The water is nice and warm, just like I imagined it would be.” He mused, turning around to smile at him. His hand felt cold now, but the sight of him standing there, so happy, had warmth spread through his body to the tips of his fingers, and he felt a smile spread across his own lips._

_“I told you, anything is possible.” He bent down to scoop up a rock and threw it at the water. They watched it skip across the surface, never faltering, until it was out of sight. “The rules of the normal world don’t apply here.”_

_He stood there for a while, staring at where the rock had disappeared over the horizon. The water lapped softly at his legs as the last rays of sun disappeared below the surface as well. A soft wind started blowing, rippling the water slightly, and he turned back, walking over to him._

_“Next time, you pick the location.” He said softly._

_“Okay, I’ll think of a place then.” He said, relieved that he wanted to go somewhere with him again. He didn’t really mind where, but he would probably spend every waking hour of the coming day trying to think of a place. His look of relief was mirrored on Seungsik’s face, who seemed just as happy that he wanted to spend another dream with him._

_“I’ll look forward to it.” He promised, as the world around them grew darker. They could both feel the dream come to an end, consciousness trying to claim them once again. “Have a nice day, Seungwoo.”_   
_He blushed for what felt like the hundredth time that night. “Thank you, you too.. Seungsik.” The world faded, and he couldn’t see the other anymore._

He opened his eyes to his empty bedroom, where no smiling Seungsik would greet him. A blush crept up when he thought of him, and he squealed, wiggling around in his bed, the butterflies once again taking over his stomach. Maybe he was going crazy, maybe not. He was too blissfully happy to care. He grabbed his phone and opened the groupchat to type a quick message. 

**Sw:** my place tonight i have Things to tell you

Then he got up and got himself ready for the day. He had an extra big and long breakfast, as he had woken up a bit too early. Whistling, he picked a sleepy Onni up from her napping spot and left the building, heading for his store. Nothing could ruin his mood today, not even shitty Saturday shoppers. The day flew by as he spent every free minute going over places he could take the other that night. Finally, he settled on the forest he had explored so often as a kid. It was the perfect spot, seeing as they both seemed to enjoy nature and walking.

When he got home he found Hanse, Sejun and Subin already on his couch, looking at him expectantly.

“Things huh?” Hanse asked, “let’s hear it, what happened last night?”

“And the night before.” Sejun interjected.

Seungwoo chuckled at how invested his friends were and set his bag down, opting to take a shower later. He sat down on the floor again, Onni jumping off him into Subin’s lap. “A lot, actually. I’m not sure where to start.”

“How about the beginning?” Subin said, scratching the cat’s chin and looking up at him curiously. “Tell us everything, we have time.”

“Alright then, the beginning.” He took a moment to gather his thoughts and memories. A lot had happened in the span of two nights. “Well, it started off in the same place, with all the snow. And the stranger I told you about in my lap.” And so he launched into his story of the past two nights. Getting to know the other and finding out that it was a dream, to the hillside and the lake. He emphasized how sure he was that Seungsik couldn’t have been made up by his mind and the other’s seemed to believe him, mostly.

“It sounds too detailed and complicated... Especially for someone you might have only seen for a split second, if you ever even saw him at all.” Hanse speculated.

“I told you all it’s someone he’ll meet still! I bet they’re soulmates!” Sejun said excitedly. 

“I mean Snoo here is clearly already smitten, so that could very well be.” Subin nodded.

Seungwoo blushed. “I am not smitten! And there’s no way he would ever like me anyway.” He said sullenly.

“Oh you are so smitten! Whipped, dare I say! Look at you you’re all sad at the prospect of him not liking you!” Hanse said and the three of them chuckled at Seungwoo’s expression. “But, to be serious for a second here, I really hope you’re right, about him being a real person and everything. I’d hate to see your heart get broken dude.”

“Yeah, thanks, bro,” Seungwoo couldn’t help but smile. His friends believed him and supported him. He let them tease him about his crush and then explained where he wanted to go with him. They all approved, jokingly wondering if these dream outings could be considered dates.

“Are you going to ask him?” Sejun wondered.

“I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about that yet,” Seungwoo spluttered, “I have no clue if he could ever even see me that way.”

“Only one way to find out,” Hanse said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Ask him.”

“Maybe, if tonight goes well, I could try.” Seungwoo scratched his neck, the thought of asking the other out making him nervous. “What if he says no?”

“Then you can never sleep with him again.” Sejun said gravely.

“I’m not sleeping with him! I haven’t even asked him out yet!” he protested.

“Exactly, so start with that.”

Seungwoo looked at the others for help, but they just lifted their shoulders at Sejuns antics. He sighed, frustrated. He really didn’t know what to do. Ask him out? What if he said no? Where would they go? Would it be in real life? A voice in the back of his head asked the question he didn’t want to think about: what if he wasn’t real after all? He had to be, he just had to.

“Should we order something?” Subin asked, drawing his attention back to the conversation. “I’m starving.”

“Sure, here,” he handed the boy his phone, “order whatever you feel like, just try to keep the price reasonable.”

They quickly fell into a discussion on what to eat, and after loads of bickering they finally decided to go for some simple pizzas with a side of fried chicken. Conversation flowed easily over dinner. Later in the evening the snacks were drawn out of the closets and soda bottles were passed around. The company was a pleasant distraction from Seungwoo’s worries, and they stayed talking till deep into the night. When they did finally go to their own apartments, Seungwoo was exhausted enough to skip his shower and get straight into bed. He turned off his alarms for his free day and closed his eyes, nervous but ready.


	7. Butterfly, fly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungwoo always dreams in black and white until one day he starts to have a series of colourful dreams which involve a man he has never met before.
> 
> Or: Seungwoo doesn't know he wants romance until he falls in love with the literal man of his dreams

_Once again, he opened his eyes to the now familiar snowy landscape. He looked around nervously. Relief washed over him when he saw Seungsik sitting a bit further along, hugging his knees. He quickly walked over and he looked up, breaking into a wide smile._

_“Hey,” he said softly, “you’re here.”_

_“Have you been waiting long?” Seungwoo asked, concerned._

_“Not really, maybe ten minutes. I was starting to worry you wouldn’t come, though.” He admitted._

_He giggled at the other’s silly concern; “What, that I just wouldn’t go to sleep, ever again?”_

_He smiled, a bit embarrassed. “Well I didn’t really have enough time to think it through because right when I started thinking about it you appeared.”_

_“I’m sorry I kept you waiting, if I had known I would’ve kicked my friends out sooner.”_

_“No! No that’s okay, did you have a good time with your friends?” He asked, seeming concerned._

_“Yeah it was nice.” Not as nice as being with you, he almost added but he bit his lip to stop himself._

_“Good,” he said, relieved, “did you think of a place to take me?” He cocked his head the way he did when he was curious, a habit that was so endearing to Seungwoo that it took him a moment to gather himself._

_“Yeah, it's a place from my past that I really enjoy.” He said, suddenly nervous. What if he didn’t like it? But the expectant look didn’t fade from his face, so he focused on the scenery he had seen a thousand times when he was young and slowly but surely the landscape actually transformed into the tall-treed forest of his childhood. All around them birches, oaks, zelkovas and alders shot up to meet the sky. A narrow, barely existing path wound through the trees, deeper into the forest. Soft sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dancing shadows of leaves all around. Seungwoo felt a strong wave of nostalgia wash over him, and he absentmindedly touched one of the branches that hung a bit lower overhead._

_“It’s beautiful,” Seungsik whispered, looking around himself with wide eyes. A bird chirped high up in the trees and took off. He decided to experiment a little while the other was distracted, and imagined a little butterfly landing on his shoulder. Seungsik turned right as the little blue butterfly fluttered over and he gasped when it landed right where Seungwoo had imagined it. “Oh, hello there, cutie!” He giggled, ecstatic. “Did you do that?”_

_He nodded proudly, “I wanted to try something, it seems like it works.” The butterfly took off again then, landing on a nearby flower._

_Seungsik made an impressed sound, a sort of kchh in the back of his throat, and he had to fight to not just collapse on the floor and wiggle around at how impossibly adorable it was. “So, what is this place?”_

_“A forest.” He said, very unhelpfully._

_He giggled and corrected himself; “No, I mean, why did you choose this place? For our second d- uhh, dream outing?”_

_He blushed, not sure what he had been about to say, but hoping it was what he thought it was. Our second date. He shook himself, of course it wasn’t that, he had just tripped over his words a bit. “It’s a place I came a lot as a child, I used to run around here for hours every day in summer. I would climb the trees, and then fall and scrape myself on the undergrowth.” He smiled fondly at the memories. “My mom would scold me, and then I'd do it all again the next day.” He didn’t realize he had started walking, and Seungsik had fallen into pace next to him, intently listening._

_“Sounds like you have a lot of good memories here.” He said happily, looking around himself._

_“Well, yes, mostly. One time I got lost, and it took me so long to get home my mom had nearly called the cops. She already had all the neighbours out to look for me. I stuck to the path after that.” He smiled sheepishly as he remembered how he had stumbled through the forest trying to find the path again._

_“Want to get lost with me?” Seungsik blurted out, a blush quickly spreading on his cheeks when Seungwoo looked at him surprised. “I mean, we can’t really right? If we get tired or scared we can just imagine ourselves back on the path! It could be fun.”_

_He was still trying to process the first question as he rambled on. He wanted to get lost with him? He felt his own cheeks heat up, but decided to be brave and nodded. “Yes that could be fun, let’s get lost... together.” He barely mumbled the last word, his bravery failing him, but Seungsik’s face lit up and he took his hand again to drag him into the forest. He couldn’t help but giggle at how the other was dragging him determinedly forward through the dense undergrowth. He felt his legs being scraped by sharp branches, but he didn’t care. This was heaven, running around in a forest, hand in hand, with his crush. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t deny it, he had fallen for the pretty stranger of his dreams, literally._

_Suddenly, Seungsik gasped and stopped in his tracks. They had come to a clearing, a small strip of grass with flowers in all colours. “Did you ever come across this place?” he turned to Seungwoo with big eyes._

_“No, I don’t remember ever seeing it, I only once went off the path. I don’t even know if this really exists or if one of our brains is making this all up as we go.” A while ago he had stopped recognizing the forest, the trees growing thicker and taller than he had seen them. “Maybe it’s filling in the blanks.”_

_He turned back to the meadow and slowly walked forward, not letting go of his hand. He followed, just as curious, and looked up at the bright blue sky that was no longer hidden behind green leaves and brown branches. “I like the things your brain comes up with,” he said while softly swinging their arms. He looked back down at him, a small smile playing around his lips._

_“Who says it’s mine? Maybe this is all you.” He softly squeezed his hand._

_“You’re the one who brought us here, I think this would be your doing. Maybe you imagined finding something like this when you explored as a kid.” He looked down at their hands and smiled. “It’s nice.”_

_“Yeah, I agree.” He said softly. Now, he had to work up the courage to ask him. This was the perfect spot. But he couldn’t do it, he wasn’t brave enough. Instead, he coughed and turned away to look back the way they came. “The trees here are different, I don’t remember seeing them this big. Maybe I wished they were “ He mused. They were silent for a bit, taking in the sight and the sun, content to just stand there, hand in hand._

_“Maybe we should...” He started, but he let his sentence trail off._

_“You want to go somewhere else?” He asked, worried he was getting bored._

_“No, just, I... Forget I said anything.” He shook his head, looking away shyly._

_“What? What is it?” Seungwoo couldn’t hide his curiosity. He playfully tugged at his arm. “Tell meeee,” he whined, “pretty please?”_

_Seungsik laughed as he turned back to him. “You can be such a child. It’s nothing really, I just thought we could sit here for a bit maybe, to rest.”_

_“Sure, if you want to. Too bad we don’t have those snacks anymore huh.” He mused, flopping down onto his butt and pulling him with him. He squealed and nearly fell on top of him, but managed to land right next to him on the grass by flailing his arms as if he was a pigeon about to take off. As revenge, he pushed him down onto his back in the grass, before laying down next to him and sighing contently._

_“Tell me about yourself,” he said, propping his head up on his arms._

_“What do you want to know?” He asked, unsure where to begin._

_“Everything. So far I only know you as Seungwoo: the man that reads too many books and loses his trains.” He said, giggling softly._

_He scowled. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?” When the other shook his head, he sighed._

_“Well, there isn’t much to be honest. I love books, and reading, I own a little bookstore. I live with my cat, sometimes I game a little. My insane friends break into my apartment regularly. Oh and I was born in ’94.”_

_Seungsik gaped at him: “You own your own bookstore?! And a cat??!! That’s amazing.”_

_“It’s a lot of work, that’s for sure,” he complained smiling, “I don’t mind though, it’s fun. What about you? What can you tell me about Seungsik?”_

_“Ahhhh, well... I was born in ’95, so I’m a year younger. I’m a big fan of nature, as you could probably already tell. I live with a friend, for now, I’m trying to find my own place as I just switched jobs. I work at an animal pension; we take in animals while their owners go on holidays and stuff. I dream of once owning a big dog.” He concluded, nodding to himself._

_He smiled softly. Everything about him was endearing. “That suits you, you’re like a big puppy yourself.”_

_“Like a puppy? How so?” He said, while tilting his head to one side again. Seungwoo giggled._

_“Like that, the head tilting. You do that a lot when you’re curious about something, it makes you look like a puppy. And you’re so excitable.” His smile widened at the little pout that appeared on the other’s face, and before he could stop himself, he said: “and you’re cute, you know like puppies are cute.” His cheeks and ears burned a bright red as he said it, but it was too late to take it back now._

_Seungsik smiled shyly, a soft blush on his cheeks. “Hehehehe you think I’m cute.”_

_“Well, yes, I do.” He said boldly, sitting up a bit. “I think anyone that met you would agree with me.”_

_“Hmm no, I think it’s just you.” He said, matter-of-factly._

_“I don’t believe you, has no-one ever called you cute before?” He asked, incredulous. He couldn’t believe there was a soul out there that wouldn’t melt at the sight of Seungsik, especially when he was being so- so- well just cute!_

_“Well, apart from my family when I was little, and my friends, not really no.” He said, shrugging._

_“Well, they’re all thinking it, even if they aren’t saying it.” He huffed, upset because he deserved to hear he was cute and pretty and funny all day, every day. He would just have to be the one to tell him._   
_He giggled at his expression and shook his head._

_“Alright, they’re all thinking it secretly.”_

_“Exactly.” Seungwoo said, happy now. Even if he didn’t believe it now, he would tell him he was cute every night for as long as it took, until he believed it himself. Seungsik sighed contently and spread his arms out beside him in the grass, stretching._

_“Wanna go somewhere else? I want to try something.” He asked, sitting up as well._

_“Sure, where do you wanna go?” He wondered if it would be a place in nature again or not. He liked nature, and it meant there was no chance any other people would start appearing in their shared dream world._

_“Close your eyes, it’s a surprise.” He said cheekily. Seungwoo obediently closed his eyes and soon after felt the ground underneath him shift, the grass making way for a texture much rougher. A salty smell hit his nose, but it was pleasant and he breathed it in deeply. “Alright you can open them now.”_

_They were sitting on the edge of a rocky cliff, facing the sea. The sun was once again low to the water, almost completely gone and the sky was darkening rapidly. The first stars were appearing and the moon was already out, shining brightly above them. He looked around, to both sides the cliff stretched on endlessly, with big waves crashing into them on one side. On the other side the rocks slanted downward into a deep, grassy valley, where a few cows were grazing. He looked back at Seungsik, who was staring at him intently, waiting for his reaction._

_“Where is this? This is amazing, I’ve never seen anything like it.”_

_“Neither have I,” he admitted, “it’s a place I saw in a movie once, I thought it looked really nice.” He smiled and looked out across the sea. “It’s just as nice as I imagined it to be.”_

_They sat there, Seunsik staring at the last light of the sun, that had now dipped fully below the surface, and Seungwoo staring at him, sparkles in his eyes. A few seagulls flew overhead towards the sea, and somewhere behind them a cow mooed. He had never felt so content, and he let out a long sigh. He wished he could stay here with h forever, but he knew they had to wake up at some point. For now, they could sit here and watch the stars appear in the sky, until it was entirely covered in little shiny dots. As he stared at them, a bright stripe briefly lit up the sky; a falling star. He quickly closed his eyes and wished for the dream to never end. But when he opened them again, the stars were disappearing as the world around him slowly faded._

_“I suppose it’s time to go,” Seungsik broke the silence, the sadness in his voice closely resembling how Seungwoo felt right then. But then he smiled and turned to him. “See you tomorrow night. Have a nice day.” His smile was infectious and the corners of Seungwoo’s mouth pulled up as well._

_“You too, I'll see you tomorrow.” He felt like he should say something more, like he was forgetting something important to say. But before he could think of what it was the world faded entirely to black and Seungsik was gone._

He opened his eyes, but his vision was too blurry to make anything out. He blinked profusely, and to his horror he felt soft tears fall onto his cheeks. Why on earth was he crying? Yes, they had to say goodbye, but they would see each other again the next night. He wiped away his tears and got out of bed. Since it was a Sunday, and he was free, he hadn’t set an alarm. Therefore, he wasn’t really surprised when it was already almost one in the afternoon. He stretched himself out, ready to spend a day doing absolutely nothing.

But then he realized that because of his excessive reading the past days, he was terribly behind on paperwork. He groaned and fought the urge to flop back into bed and sleep the rest of the day away. He just had to get this done and then he could relax as much as he wanted. First, he took a shower and made himself some late brunch. Then he trudged back to his bedroom and sat down behind his desk, ready for a day of boring paperwork. He got to work and the minutes crawled by. When he was done, finally, it was already time for dinner. He quickly fixed himself a salad, not feeling particularly hungry after such an inactive day, and sank down on the couch for some much needed, relaxing tv-time. He turned on his series and settled in for the evening.


	8. Coffee surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungwoo always dreams in black and white until one day he starts to have a series of colourful dreams which involve a man he has never met before.
> 
> Or: Seungwoo doesn't know he wants romance until he falls in love with the literal man of his dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> theres a bit of angst in this one ;-; i hope its still enjoyable! this felt like the right progression of the story to me,, HAVE FUN!

He lost track of time at one point in the evening, getting completely absorbed in the show. When he had caught up on the episodes he had missed that week, he grabbed his phone to check the time. It was already well past midnight already. A notification popped up; his friends inquiring how the night had gone. He tapped a quick reply, telling them it had been amazing, but he really had to go to bed first so he would explain later. He groaned when he thought about getting up early the next morning, but then got excited; it was time to sleep, and that meant it was time to see Seungsik again. He quickly jumped up and almost ran to his bedroom. He messily got himself into his pyjamas and jumped into bed, firmly closing his eyes. It was difficult to fall asleep, because he was buzzing with nerves, butterflies and excitement. Finally he felt himself drift off.

His alarm pulled him from his sleep and he opened his eyes to the soft glow of morning light behind his curtains. He looked around himself, feeling disoriented from the dreamless sleep. He frowned. No dreams, no Seungsik. This upset him far more than was reasonable. He thought it over for a while, and came to the conclusion that the other had probably been asleep at a different time than him. It seemed like that mattered, as Seungwoo had kept him waiting the night before.

He couldn’t quite shake his worry, though, and he was very distracted that day. First, he spilled his morning coffee, luckily not dropping the cup while he did so. It was his favourite, a gift from his mom when he had moved out. A small blue bird was painted on the side. He quickly refilled it and tried to enjoy his breakfast. Then he toppled backwards while trying to put on his shoes that were still tied and he hurt his tailbone on the hard wooden floor. He cursed under his breath and tried to pay more attention from then on. That didn’t last long, however, as he dropped his keys when he tried to open the door to his store. It was going to be one of those days, he supposed.

In all his clumsiness, he somehow managed to not break anything at least, so he left the store in a reasonably good mood after closing up. He quickly walked back home, feeling rather peckish. He cooked himself some nice dinner and tried his best not to get too worried, focusing instead on his work. He had done a lot the day before, but there was more to be done now, so he set to work. He finished too quickly for his liking, and decided to distract himself by playing some games, not leaving his bedroom.

About an hour later he felt his phone buzz in his pocket and picked it up to check his messages. Of course it was from his friends, wondering if he had any dream news. His stomach dropped as he typed a response.

 **Hs:** Sooo, Wooya, what did you do last night? Did you go on another date? Where to this time? You still gotta tell us about the previous night as well ;).

 **Sj:** ooohh juicy details please!!

 **Sw:** i didnt dream last night. so, no date.

 **Sj:** :O o no! why didnt u dream??

 **Hs:** Oh I’m sorry to hear.

 **Sw:** i figured its probably just him sleeping at a different time? like maybe he pulled an allnighter or something idk.

Sj: I'm sure he’ll be back tonight! c: 

**Sw:** i hope so...

 **Hs:** It’ll be okay, Swoo, I’m sure you’re right with your theory. Don’t worry too much alright? We’re here for you.

 **Sj:** we’ll come over with comfort food if you need :3

 **Sw:** thats okay, thanks guys

 **Hs:** Anytime buddy.

 **Sj:** uwu

Seungwoo smiled slightly as he put his phone down and turned back to his games. He really was lucky with his friends.

A bit later he decided it was about time to go to bed, if he wanted to get enough sleep that night, so he shut down his computer and got ready. He stood at his bed, hope fighting with dread in his stomach. He shouldn’t stall, he needed the sleep, but he wanted to so badly. He finally got himself together and stepped into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin and closing his eyes firmly. Please, he thought, be there.

He woke, yet again, to the sound of his alarm. He felt a wave of disappointment crash over him and his breathing sped up as the panic hit him. What if it wasn’t real after all. What if he wasn’t real? Had he fooled himself into believing some sick joke his brain decided to pull on him? He clutched at the bedsheets, trying to get a grip on himself. Maybe it wasn’t real, maybe he had been going crazy with loneliness and exhaustion and his brain had snapped. And now he was rested enough for things to go back to normal. He couldn’t believe it, though, it had all been so impossibly real, so beyond his imagination. Maybe the dreams would come back, maybe Seungsik would come back. He forced himself to slow his breathing and managed to pull himself together enough to get up.

He fell back into his morning routine, but when he had made breakfast, he just sat at his kitchen table, poking at his food. He didn’t feel hungry, he felt sick. He put his now cold breakfast into the fridge; maybe he could eat it that evening. Dazedly he got his stuff together and headed out to his store.

He went through the motions of getting his store ready for opening, and stood at his counter. He just stood there, the whole day, staring ahead until he had to put up a smile for his customers. He didn’t bother restocking, or cleaning, he felt too out of it to move much. Only once did he leave his counter, when a customer needed help finding a specific book and couldn’t find it even after some simple instructions. He was glad when the clock signalled it was time to close up. He could go home and rest. He quickly picked up his stuff and his cat, locked the door behind him and walked back home.

He spent the rest of the day restlessly moving through his apartment, cleaning random things and moving stuff around and back. Onni got annoyed and wandered into his bedroom to lay on his windowsill. He sighed as he watched her tail slip around the corner of his bedroom door. He didn’t want to go there himself, worried that another dreamless night was coming, but he also wanted to go there as soon as possible, the chance of seeing Seungsik again reviving the butterflies in his stomach. Or maybe that was just his stomach protesting the lack of food that day. He grabbed his untouched breakfast out of the fridge and chewed on it for a while, staring out of the window of his apartment.

He didn’t know how long he’d been sitting there, but the city outside grew darker and his eyes grew heavier, so he supposed it was probably late enough to go back to bed. He trudged to his bedroom, got dressed and collapsed into bed. He was exhausted, mentally, and his brain refused to stay awake any longer, so he let himself slip into unconsciousness.

His alarm woke him again, and the worry took over again for a bit. Then he got up, went through his day, told his friends not to worry too much and went back to bed, only to be woken by his alarm, yet again. This continued that week, and the next, and slowly the worry made place for a deep settled emptiness. He had never noticed how empty his apartment was, always content with diving into work, or having friends over to fill the silence with noise. He thought he had been content, until he had met someone he wanted to spend every waking, or sleeping second with. He was absolutely and utterly lost without the beautiful man from his dreams. He became more and more convinced that that was just what he was, a man that had appeared in his dreams, nothing more. Just someone who might have passed him on the street and who didn’t even know of Seungwoo’s existence.

Sunday’s were the most dreadful now, with no work to distract him he found himself wandering the city aimlessly. He would sit at random cafés, drink coffee and wander around through streets he had never thought of visiting. He just wanted to keep moving, seeing different things, in a desperate attempt to keep himself distracted enough. But every once in a while, he was painfully reminded of Seungsik, in the pet shops that were scattered around town and in the parks with their tall trees, small birds and plenty of butterflies. One time he walked past a cat pension and he had been overcome with an urge to go inside and check who was working. It was insane, but he had followed it and, of course, left a few minutes later, heavily disappointed and even more restless.

This Sunday was no different, he wandered in a random direction and ended up at a small, dimly lit café he had never been to before. He entered and ordered his usual Iced Americano, before sitting down at a small table in a corner, where he sipped his drink slowly, staring at the table in front of him. He idly thought about having his friends over later, maybe they could watch a movie, it could be fun. He was trying his best not to show his misery around them, but he knew they knew he wasn’t doing well. He saw their careful looks, heard their soft whispers when they thought he was too zoned out to pay attention. They had tried to talk to him about it, but he had brushed them off. After all it had just been in his head, so his head should be capable of dealing with it on its own. A ridiculous notion, he knew that, but lately he had genuinely enjoyed their company again, and he wasn’t finding it so hard to get back into his work routine.

It was just the hours alone that haunted him. When his apartment became too quiet and small, and all he could do was curl up into a ball or leave and walk around, those hours were the ones he dreaded. He knew he would get over it, time would heal his wounds, but he couldn’t explain how the wounds were so deep. Maybe he had fallen faster and harder than he could’ve ever imagined, or maybe it was because it had all happened in a state in which he had been much more vulnerable. He took another long drag of his coffee and noticed he had already nearly finished it. Maybe he would get some more to go when he left. It had gotten a lot busier, however, and he didn’t really want to stand in line.

As he was contemplating this, someone walked up to the table. He presumed it was to see if the chair on the other side of the table was occupied or not, so he mumbled a soft “it’s free” not bothering to look up. When the person didn’t move he repeated himself, a bit louder, hoping the other would just take the chair and leave, but they still didn’t move. Seungwoo lifted his head to glare at whoever it was, and then noticed that said person wasn’t even looking at him. He cleared his throat, hoping to catch their attention. They finally turned, mumbled a quick apology and left with the chair.

Annoyed that his thoughts had been interrupted, he turned to stare out the window at the people walking past. Most didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry, not surprising on a Sunday. It was very busy for a Sunday, he noticed. Maybe there was a special occasion somewhere. When he was about to turn away to stare at his table, someone that did seem to be in a hurry caught his eye. He stared for a moment too long, because it couldn’t have been, he had to have been mistaken. But he got up anyway, and hurried out the door, forgetting the last bit of his coffee.

He nearly sprinted in the direction the other had been going, looking for any sign of the man. At the crossing he looked left and right, and spotted him turning into another street down the road to the right. He broke into a full sprint once he had crossed the road safely, and turned where he had seen the other go. He saw him speed walk a bit down the street and yelled for him: “Seungsik!!” But he didn’t hear him, presumably because he was wearing airpods and was listening to music. 

He started running again and closed the distance between them quickly with his long strides. When he was only a small distance away he yelled again, and this time he did hear him, whipping his head around while taking out one of his pods, to see who was calling from him. At first, Seungwoo thought he didn’t recognize him, and he was about to mumble an apology and leave, but then Seungsik’s mouth fell agape and he let out a soft “Oh”. He quickly closed the distance between them, but then stopped, not sure if he should do anything else.

But then Seungsik reached out and softly touched his shoulder, letting his hand linger there. “You’re really here.” He said softly, shaking his head.

He smiled and gently put his hand on the other’s. It felt warm and soft. “You’re really here too.” All he wanted to do was take the other’s hand, pull him close and just hold him there. But that would be weird, right? They were barely friends, it would definitely be weird.

“Unless we’re dreaming again,” he chuckled and looked around himself, “not really our usual setting is it?”

He jokingly scrunched up his nose. “Far too stinky, must be real.”

Seungsik laughed at that. “Ah yes, and far too much road, we prefer places with none of that.”  
He snorted. “God, I missed you.” He blushed right as he said it, horrified at himself.

But he smiled fondly at him, blushing slightly himself. “I missed you too, you big sap. I got worried you just stopped sleeping or something.”

“Me too, I didn’t know what to think. I was about to call the police for a missing person but that would’ve been too weird.”

Seungsik snorted. “‘Yes hello I would like to report the person that visits me in my dreams as missing.’ I’m sure that would’ve gone over well.”

“I think they would’ve thought I’d lost it. But then again, I would have agreed with them...” he frowned slightly, “I thought I’d imagined you, that you really only existed in my dreams. I thought I’d never see you again.” He swallowed thickly.

“Hey,” he said softly, moving his hand to cup his cheek, “I’m right here. Don’t worry about that anymore, okay?”

He nodded, blushing furiously at the close contact. “Okay, I won’t. Do you wanna go somewhere more comfortable?” More private, perhaps, he thought. But he didn’t want to creep him out by inviting him over to his house right away.

“Yes, that would be nice, where?” He asked, smiling and pulling his hand back to put it in his pocket.  
Seungwoo barely managed to hide his disappointment at the loss of contact. “There’s a café not too far from here, I was sitting there when I spotted you. It’s nice, and has good coffee.”

“Take me there, then.” Seungsik nodded.

He turned and started walking back where he came from, clenching his fists inside his pockets to suppress the urge to reach out for the other. He heard him follow a bit behind him. They walked quickly, not wanting to waste any time, and it reminded Seungwoo of something. “Hey, why were you in such a hurry earlier? Do you have somewhere to go?” He asked, not wanting to keep him from any important appointments.

“Well I was running late for a meet-up with friends, but that’s fine, I already messaged them to tell them I’ll meet them later.” He said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

“But-“ he started anyway, not feeling too great about keeping him from his friends.

But he cut him off. “If you think I’m going to pass on sitting in a café with you, after not seeing you for weeks, just because I was going to meet up with people that I see nearly daily, you’re dead wrong.”

“I just don’t want you to choose me over your friends.” He said, looking down at the street as he continued to walk. But Seungsik huffed and grabbed his elbow, forcing him to stop and turn.

“I’ll choose who I want to hang out with, and when I want to hang out with them, and right now that’s you. So, unless you don’t want to hang out with me...”

He shook his head, mortified. “No that’s not at all what I meant! Of course I want to hang out with you.”  
He nodded, satisfied, and started walking again.

“Then we’ll hang out.” Seungwoo couldn’t help but smile; he wanted to hang out with him. And he was even ditching his friends for him. He shouldn’t be so happy about that, but right then he really wanted nothing more than to spend some time with the other. He would’ve been heartbroken if he hadn’t wanted to as well.

“It’s right there,” he said, pointing at the café on the other side lf the street. It was almost empty now, everyone having gotten their morning coffee and moved on. The little table he had sat at still had his almost empty cup standing on it. Seungsik led the way inside to the counter and ordered himself an Iced Americano. Seungwoo smiled and stepped forward. “Make that two, please.” He pulled out his wallet, ready to treat the other to a coffee. When he saw him open his mouth to protest, he quickly said: “To make up for your friend ditching.”

“But that was my own decision.” He said, incredulous. “Shouldn’t I be treating them to make up for it?”

“Shhh I like to treat my friends, let me treat you too please.” He smiled sweetly at him while he handed the cashier his card, already leaving no room for discussion.

“Fine, but its my treat next time then.” He grumbled back. The cashier handed them their drinks with a bemused expression and Seungwoo blushed.

“Next time?” He asked as they made their way over to a table near the window. He eyed the table he had been sitting at, resolving to clean up the cup of coffee once they left, but it was already gone.

“Well, yes, if you want to meet up again of course. I thought...” he trailed off, looking down. Seungwoo smiled to himself. Cute.

“Next time then.” He said simply and picked up his coffee to sip at it. Seungsik lit up and grabbed his own coffee. For a while they sat there, looking out the window and stealing glances at each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking. Whenever their eyes met Seungwoo turned away quickly, blushing profusely.

“How have you been? Did your sleep get worse again?” Seungsik asked, leaning towards him a bit. It was almost as if his hand was on the table specifically for Seungwoo to put his hand on, but he pushed that thought out of his head and answered.

“It’s been rough, but not because of the sleep. It was dreamless, so not particularly tiring, but also not very restful.” He said honestly.

Seungsik frowned. “Then why was it rough? Troubles at work?” Seungwoo blushed; he hadn’t thought his words through very well. He decided he might as well keep it honest.

“Because I missed... I missed our dreams. They were nice, even if there were only a few...” He looked down at his hands around the cup. He didn’t know how to put into words that he missed him, without seeming desperate.

“I missed it too...” He looked up at the words, meeting eyes with him. This time he didn’t look away. His eyes were beautiful, sparkling in the lights of the café. He figured he should say something, so he cleared his throat.

“How have you been?” It still came out hoarse, so he cleared his throat again. “Have you found a place to live yet?”

Seungsik looked relieved at the change of topic. “Yeah I have, quite close to my workplace. I miss the noise of a roommate, but the privacy is great. The views nice too.” He said, enthusiastically. “I’d love to show you sometime.”

“That would be lovely.” Seungwoo said, not yet processing the words. He felt like if he did, he would fall to the floor right then and there and just start giggling. He felt so giddy. He saw a soft blush creep up on his cheek and he nearly reached out to squeeze them. Seungsik giggled softly.

“What? What’s funny?” Seungwoo asked confused. What had he done now? Was there coffee on his face?

“Not funny, just cute.” He barely caught the last words. He almost had to clutch his chest. Had he just called him cute? He must have misunderstood.

“What’s cute?” He asked, looking around for something that could be called cute.

Seungsik giggled again. “Your expression, I don’t know what you were thinking but you had a big goofy smile. Cute.”

Seungwoo huffed. “I am not cute! You can’t call me cute! It’s not allowed.”

He giggled softly and looked at him endearingly. “Why can’t I call you cute?”

He huffed again, frowning slightly. “My heart can’t take it, it’s not fair.” He said, clutching his chest dramatically, making the other chuckle.

“Okay if I can’t call you cute, I’ll just call you pretty.” He said, smirking slightly.

“No, that’s worse!” He said, doubling over jokingly, hiding his bright red cheeks. “I think I’ll need first aid if you do that.”

“Hmmm, well I know first aid for cats, and you’re just like a big cat so I’m sure I can do that.” He giggled and Seungwoo felt lightheaded. The butterflies that had now found a permanent home in his stomach were going crazy and he groaned. “Are you okay?” He was instantly serious, worried he had taken it too far.

“You’re killing me here!” He said, sitting back up straight. “You’re just sitting there giggling and teasing me, I’m suffering!” He whined, but his smile betrayed his real feelings. He just couldn’t get rid of it. At that moment, his stomach rumbled loudly.

Seungsik checked his phone for the time.  
“Ah, it’s lunch time already.” He looked a bit disappointed, so Seungwoo decided to be brave.

“Wanna grab a bite somewhere?” He asked hopefully. Maybe they could extend their little get-together for a bit.

“I would love that. Got a place in mind?” he said, relieved.

“Not exactly... I don’t really come here often. I just happened to run into this place this morning.” He admitted, scratching his head.

“Hm, then allow me? I know a good lunch place close by.” He nodded and they got up to throw their things away. Once outside, Seungsik led the way again, this time knowing where he was going. Seungwoo followed him, never taking his eyes off him. He was so happy, finally able to spend time with him, no longer stuck inside their own minds. They still had a lot to talk about and, hopefully, seas of time to do so.


	9. Just lunch?.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungwoo always dreams in black and white until one day he starts to have a series of colourful dreams which involve a man he has never met before.
> 
> Or: Seungwoo doesn't know he wants romance until he falls in love with the literal man of his dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uwu enjoy reading <3

After about ten minutes of walking, they arrived at a small but cosy looking sandwich place. Seungwoo stared at it for a bit. It was adorable, just like Seungsik. He smiled and stepped inside, curious to see the layout and menu, and also hungry. There weren’t too many people inside, enough for there to be a comforting buzz of conversation, but not enough to make it uncomfortably loud or busy. He sauntered over to a few free spaces to the back of the little restaurant and chose a square table with two chairs. They sat down, across from each other again. They ordered their drinks and looked at the menu.

Seungsik only checked to see if there was anything new, before choosing his regular, favourite sandwich and pointed several good choices out to Seungwoo, telling him the pros and cons of each one. Things like “This one has amazing cheese, if you like cheese, but it has peanuts, so don’t take it if you have a peanut allergy.” Or “This one tastes best with a bit of added cream cheese, which you can ask.” He smiled fondly, finding his explanations particularly cute. Then again, what about the other man didn’t make him smile?

He chose the one that Seungsik praised most, and they made their orders once their drinks were brought. “How did you find this place? It’s very cute.” He asked, curious.

He mulled over his answer for a bit, playing with the drink in his hands, a smile on his face at the memory. “My friend was starving, according to him at least. He only had five minutes left before he would fall over, he said, so I dragged him into the first foody looking place I could find. Which happened to be this sandwich place. We kind of fell in love with it, the food here is so good! So we come here regularly, with our other friend too.Well, we used to, we haven’t been in a while.” He finished, looking away slightly.

“Oh, I hope you can go again soon.” He said, feeling bad for the other. He knew how he felt. When was the last time he went anywhere with Hanse or Sejun? He had never been anywhere with Subin, simply preferring to stay in after a long week of work. That was until his wandering Sundays. He didn’t even know if Subin liked to go out at all, he didn’t seem the type. 

“Maybe you can come,” Seungsik interrupted his thoughts. “They would like that. They’ve been wanting to meet you almost as much as I have.” He chuckled.

“Oh, yes, I would love to meet them.” He said, surprised he had told his friends about him. He felt oddly warm at the thought and he touched his cheeks with his hands, cold from holding his drink. He sighed contently, once again realizing how happy he was now.

“What are you thinking of?” The other asked softly.

“Oh it’s nothing,” he blushed, again not knowing how to voice his thoughts. He didn’t dare to tell him how he really felt.

“Oh come on, tell me. Please?” He flashed his big puppy eyes, and Seungwoo couldn’t say no.

“I was just thinking how nice this is, and how... well how happy I am right now.” He wanted to hide his face, even his ears were red now.

“Oh! That’s nice, I'm glad.” He smiled his crescent-eyed smile. Right then the waiter showed up with their food, and they dug in quietly. Their silences were never awkward, he noticed. It was pleasant to sit there, sharing a meal together, without feeling the pressure of making small talk. The only reason he would break this silence, was to ask one of the million things he still wanted to ask him, to get to know him more.

“Did you get that big dog you wanted yet? Now that you have your own place?” He wondered, remembering how longing the other had looked when talking about wanting one.

“Oh, you remembered! No, not yet, but I’ve been looking. I think I’ll adopt; I want to rescue one. And then I can know it’s temperament, I don’t want to cause the neighbours any trouble by accidentally raising a rowdy pup.” He mused, taking a slow bite from his sandwich.

“That makes sense. It is a shame you can’t pick the breed that way, but rescue is nicer. It’s how I got Onni. She just kept walking up to me in the cat lounge, so of course I had to take her home. She looked like she’d been through hell and back, with almost all her fur shaved off because it had matted. She looked so silly! I still have pictures.” He got his phone out and searched for the pictures he took so many years ago and handed it to him. He watched as he scrolled through the silly pictures and giggled at them.

“She looks like a shaved sheep! So ugly, I already love her.” He smiled and handed the phone back.

“I know! But she grew a beautiful coat back.” He looked up another picture, more recent this time, and found one of her on her back, as relaxed and comfortable as ever. He handed it over again.

“Oh! That’s a soft belly I want to pet!” He exclaimed when he saw the picture.

“Well, if you come over at any point you can.” He blurted out, hoping that didn’t sound too desperate. He smiled and nodded.

“That would be nice.” He reached out to softly place a hand on Seungwoo’s, a soft blush on his cheeks.

His hand twitched involuntarily at the contact, nerves getting the better of him and Seungsik moved as if to pull away, a look of hurt briefly touching his face. He quickly put his other hand on top of his to stop him, giving him a soft squeeze before letting go again. He seemed to understand, leaving his hand in place, a smile dancing on the corners of his mouth.

They finished eating, with one hand now, and sat for a bit longer, revelling in the company. The restaurant was nicely cool, as opposed to the hot of the summer outside. Neither of them wanted to go out just yet, and since they weren’t keeping a table from other hungry guests, they decided to stay for a bit longer, at least until the heat of the mid-day was gone.

“Do you want to go somewhere?” Seungwoo asked when they couldn’t excuse staying any longer.

“Yes,” he said, looking relieved, “where?”

“Well,” he started, scratching his head, “there’s a nice park across the river. I figured you would like it.”

“I love parks!” He said enthusiastically. “It’s as close to nature as you can get in the city.”

“Exactly!” He smiled and got up to handle the bill, but Seungsik was ahead of him.

“My turn, remember?” He said cheekily and quickly hopped over to the counter. Once he had paid, they made their way outside. He interlocked their hands and turned his bright, crinkly eyed smile to him. “Where to?”

He giggled and pointed to the bridge a bit along the road. “That way, across the bridge and then to the right.” Even though he told him where to go, he was still the one to lead them along, winding his way through the late afternoon crowd. They got to the park safely and strolled along the tiny paths through the thick bushes, hand in hand. They broke through into a little open field, with a pond in the centre. They sat down on a bench, a little away from each other, both looking awkward.

“I had a really nice time today.” Seungsik said softly, turning towards him. Seungwoo smiled widely, feeling all warm again.

“Me too, we should do this again.” He said, hoping he felt the same. He blushed deep red and looked away, playing with his hands nervously. He was about to ask if everything was okay, when he opened his mouth to try and say something, and then closed it again. “Yes? What is it?”

“Do you- do you mean that as.. well, as a date?” He mumbled, and Seungwoo barely caught it. When it got through to him, he swallowed hard and looked at his hands as well, feeling incredibly nervous.

“I- Do you want it to be?” He asked, afraid to look up. He probably asked that to make sure there were no misunderstandings. He awaited a no, bracing himself for the disappointment. Instead, he felt a hand softly touch his cheek and turn his head towards the other again. He saw he wore a small, shy smile and he relaxed a bit. At least he wasn’t appalled by the idea.

“Yes, I would.” He said sweetly.

“Then...” he fiddled a bit, trying to find his courage, “will you go out with me?” He asked breathlessly. Seungsik leaned towards him a little, his smile growing.

“Yes, I would love to.” He whispered and Seungwoo didn’t know where he got the courage, but he leaned forward too, closing the distance, and gently wrapped his hands around him, pulling him into a hug. He didn’t resist, instead melting into the hug and wrapping his arms around Seungwoo as well. They stayed there for a while like that, in a tight embrace. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face, so happy Seungsik felt the same way, as he leaned his head on his shoulder and sighed contently.

“We should go, it’s getting late,” Seungsik said after a while, reluctantly pulling back a bit. He looked sad. Seungwoo checked the time and noticed it was already nearly six.

“Ah, damn, I told my friends I would make them dinner tonight.” He said, feeling disappointed at himself for forgetting. He saw his disappointment reflected in the other’s eyes and got an idea. “Want to come? I mean, they wouldn’t mind, and I would love it.” His face instantly cleared up, but now he seemed nervous.

“Yes, I want to. Do you think they’ll like me?” He said, unsure.

“They will, I’m more worried you won’t like them.” He chuckled softly. “Don’t worry, okay?”

“Okay.” He said, comforted. He gently untangled them, but took his hand back in his before getting up. “You’ll have to show me the way again, I’m afraid.”

“Help me up first, hag here.” This was met with a soft giggle and a half-hearted tug at his arm.

“Hag, he says. I can’t do this.” He giggled more, but braced himself, tensing his arm so he could pull himself up.

“Respect your elders.” He said gravely as he sprang up and guided them further along the path.

“Ah, of course, sorry sir. Should I carry you back?” He asked jokingly, softly prodding Seungwoo’s side. He chuckled.

“You think you can hold me?” He led them through the gates on the other side of the park and then down the street. “It’s ten more minutes from here, you could never carry me that far.”

“Is that a challenge?” He asked, making him snort. He slowed down so they could walk next to each other, and Seungsik gently swung their arms again, a cute habit of his.

“No, it’s not. I don’t want you to break your back.”

“That would be a bit unfortunate wouldn’t it.” He smiled and they walked together in quiet for a bit. He took out his phone to send a quick message to his friends, to warn them of the guest he was bringing.

 **Sw:** bringing a plus one for dinner

 **Hs:** And who says you can?

 **Sw:** my place my rules

 **Sb:** Oh, who is it? :3

Seungwoo nearly dropped his phone. He hadn’t noticed they had added Subin to their groupchat, but it really shouldn’t have surprised him, with how close Sejun and him were now. They were pretty much inseparable, now that he thought back on it. They never moved alone.

 **Sj:** tell usssss!!

 **Sw:** ... seungsik

 **Sj:** :o are you making jokes again

 **Hs:** How, what, when and why?

 **Sw:** tell yah later were almost there <3

 **Sb:** OMG please we need time to get ready?? I’m not ready???

 **Hs:** There better be an excellent explanation as to why you haven’t told us anything before now.

 **Sw:** c yah in a bit

 **Sj:** jfkskgkjfnamgovjspwnfnvnosgmsngovjsk

 **Sj:** I both love and hate u

 **Sw:** <3

He chuckled as he put his phone away. They would just have to deal with their curiosity for now.

“Did you tell them?” A small voice beside him asked.

“Yes, but don’t worry,” he smiled encouragingly, “they’re a bunch of weirdos, but they’re not scary. Hanse may look scary, but he isn’t.” He seemed to relax a bit at this, which was good because they had arrived. He opened the door for him and led him towards the elevator, not wanting to subject him to stairs after so much walking. He pushed the button for the third floor and Seungsik frowned.

“Next time can we take the stairs? I prefer those.” He said as the elevator shot up.

“I do too, I just figured you might be tired. We were out all day.” He admitted sheepishly, regretting not asking him first.

“Ahw, sweet.” He smiled and squeezed his hand. Then the elevator dinged and the doors opened to the third floor. He led the way to his apartment and opened the door, not surprised at all to find his friends already there, seated on the couch. They looked up all at the same time, and smiled at them. Seungwoo felt unnerved himself, so he could only imagine how Seungsik felt. He let go of the others hand and cleared his throat, trying to at least get them to focus on him, but they already got up and stepped forward to greet them.

“Hello, welcome to Seungwoo’s apartment, I’m Hanse.” Hanse said, holding out his hand. At least that was normal, Seungwoo thought relieved.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Seungsik.” He answered politely, shaking his hand.

“We know,” Sejun says, taking his hand as soon as it’s free from Hanse and shaking it vigorously, “I’m Sejun, thrilled to meet you.” Seungwoo cleared his throat again, trying to relieve Seungsik of the attention, but Sejun ignored him. “We’ve been told a lot about you. I’ve got to say he didn’t even come close with his descriptions of your beauty.” Seungsik blushed and looked at him wide-eyed.

“B- beauty?” He asked, but before Sejun could make it any worse, Subin stepped forward and gently pulled him away, before nodding his head at Seungsik, smiling.

“Hi, I’m Subin, sorry about him, he’s just very excitable.”

“It’s okay,” he smiled shyly, “it’s very nice to meet you all.”

Seungwoo clapped his hands together. “Who’s ready for some fried egg rice?” They all cheered, even Seungsik, though hesitantly. “I’ll get it going, you guys can sit down.” He knew he was throwing him into the lion’s den, but he also knew that his friends would be a whole lot less annoying when there was food on the table, so he didn’t want to waste any time. They say down, quickly bombarding Seungsik with questions about his age, work, interests and other things. As they talked and he cooked, he could see the other relax into the conversation, and soon he was asking them questions, listening intently to their answers.

Soon enough, dinner was ready, and Seungsik came to help him bring all the plates, cutlery, cups and drinks to the low coffee table. They both sat on the floor and Seungwoo was mortified as he figured he had probably been sitting on the floor this entire time, but he didn’t seem phased. In fact, he looked comfortable and at home. He smiled to himself, happy he was fitting in so well.

“So, Seungsik here tells us something very interesting.” Hanse said, raising one eyebrow.

“And that is?” Seungwoo pretended to be oblivious, though he knew what this was about.

“You’re dating? We didn’t even know you had found him again and now you’re dating? And you asked?” Sejun accused, sounding like he didn’t believe the last part at all.

“We met earlier today; I didn’t have time to tell you. I got a bit caught up.” He chose to ignore the last question, holding on to his dignity for now. They could make of it what they wanted. Technically he hadn’t asked, Seungsik has just wondered if he meant it that way, and he hadn’t denied it.

“So are you boyfriends now?” Subin piped up, his innocent eyes wide and curious. But Seungwoo could tell his intentions were far from innocent. He blushed and looked at Seungsik, who looked at him, also blushing.

“We haven’t talked about that yet.” He said, and saw Seungsik nod. That would have to be a conversation between the two of them.

With that, they dug in, silently eating their rice, a comfortable atmosphere surrounding them. Drinks were passed around and soon enough all the plates were empty and most of the bottles too. He got up to clean away their plates and Seungsik followed, helping.

“Are you having a good time?” He whispered as they quickly cleaned and put away the plates together.

“Your friends are lovely.” He said as answer, handing him another clean plate. Seungwoo sighed, relieved. They moved back to sit with the other’s again. Subin was resting his head on Sejun’s shoulder and they were having a discussion with Hanse on the quality of some of the latest brought out music. They both sat down quietly, simply listening to the conversation. Seungsik idly played with his hand, and he smiled, feeling very blessed.

After a while, Subin and Sejun decided it was time for them to head back to their own apartments. They said their goodbyes and headed off.

“You know what’s most impressive?” Hanse asked once the door was firmly closed behind them.

“No?” Seungwoo said, instantly suspicious.

“You managing to not only find, but also ask out the literal man of your dreams, before those two have asked each other.” He said, laughing softly. Seungwoo thought about that for a bit. The conclusion the other had drawn made sense, now that he looked back on it. Sejun always looked at Subin a bit too fondly, and the younger felt far more comfortable around him than he seemed to around anyone else.

“You really think they think of each other that way?" He asked, wanting to be sure he wasn’t joking. The other two looked at him surprised, and Seungsik was the one who answered.

“You couldn’t tell? Even I saw it, and I barely know them. They were all starry eyed for each other, I don’t think they ever weren’t at least touching shoulders.” He said, a smile on his lips. “It was rather adorable, I thought they were already dating.”

Hanse snorted. “Sejun wishes. I don’t know about Subin, but he’s absolutely head over heels. He won’t ever stop talking about him whenever he’s not around, it’s driving me crazy. But he just won’t admit it! Stubborn head, he’s gonna lose his chance.” He shook his head disapprovingly. “Maybe someday I’ll get through to him.”

“I’m sure he’ll figure it out at his own pace.” Seungsik said, unsure. “He night just need a little push though.”

Hanse smiled at him. “He needs a shove or two you mean.” He got up and brushed himself off. “I’ll leave you two to it now, it was really nice meeting you Seungsik.”

“It was nice meeting you too. I’ll see you again, I hope.” He answered, smiling back brightly.

“Oh I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around here a lot.” He chuckled and dove for the door before Seungwoo could get up to shut him up rather aggressively. “See you!” And he was gone as well, leaving the two of them alone again. Seungwoo got up and gestured for him to come sit with him on the couch. They flopped down next to each other and Seungsik coughed awkwardly.

“So-“ they both started at the same time, laughing awkwardly. “You first.” Seungwoo said, allowing himself some time to think about how to start his question. But Seungsik beat him to it.

“So about earlier... When Subin asked...” He fiddled nervously. “We didn’t really make it clear before. Do you want to just try dating first? Or are we... well, boyfriends.” He gestured awkwardly as he said the word, seeming unsure of what to do with himself.

“I don’t know, what do you want? I don’t mind taking it a bit slow, but... I have to say, it feels right, y’know, being with you. I don’t think I need time to make up my mind.” He said, shaking slightly. He hoped he wasn’t saying too much, but he wanted him to know he was okay with anything, while also making sure he knew how he felt.

“I don’t either.” He said softly, looking up at him with a soft sparkle in his eyes.

“Then.. be my boyfriend?” He asked boldly, wanting to make sure there were no misunderstandings.

“Only if you’ll be mine.” He said cheekily, resting his arm on the back rest of the couch.

“Okay, boyfriends then.” A soft smile appeared on his face, one that Seungwoo was sure matched his own. They went from friends, to boyfriends in only a few hours. He couldn’t possibly be happier than he was in that moment. His feelings were reciprocated, and he had proof that he wasn’t crazy. He leaned into him, resting against his chest, and felt the other close his arms protectively around him. He was being held by his boyfriend, he thought, suddenly giddy. A small squeal left his lips and he felt the other’s chest shake with his chuckle.

“What was that about?” He asked, resting his head on top of Seungwoo’s.

“Nothing, I’m just happy.” It felt cheesy to say, but it was true.

“Hmm,” he hummed, “me too.” He squeezed him tight and Seungwoo wrapped his hands around his waist, returning the squeeze. He felt him leave a small peck on the top of his head and he craned his neck to look up at him with raised eyebrows. “What?” He chuckled, eyes shifting, “it looked kissable.”

“And my face doesn’t?” He said before he could stop himself. “Omg no sorry forget I said that!” He scrambled to save the situation. He didn’t want to scare him away by asking too much at once. He was sure his face looked like a tomato and he tried to push himself away to give the both of them some space, but then he felt a hand lock behind his head, strong enough to hold him in place, but loose enough that he could keep pushing away if he wanted to. He didn’t, though, so he stayed there, looking at him. His eyes flickered to his lips, just in time to see his tongue flick out to moisturize them. He bit his lips and looked back at his eyes, which were trained on his lips.

He felt the butterflies resurface, the nerves locking him in place. Both their breathing was heavy now, anticipation hanging in the air. Seungsik leaned closer carefully, and Seungwoo closed his eyes, tilting his head slightly as their lips met in a gentle kiss. Their lips locked together perfectly and all his nerves disappeared as he felt himself able to move again, pulling Seungsik deeper into the kiss. Their lips moved together as he felt the hand in his neck move up to gently grasp his hair. He raked his hands along his back, clutching at his shirt for support as he felt his head spin. He was wrong before, he could feel happier.


	10. No more dreams, reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungwoo always dreams in black and white until one day he starts to have a series of colourful dreams which involve a man he has never met before.
> 
> Or: Seungwoo doesn't know he wants romance until he falls in love with the literal man of his dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UWU last chapter!! i hope this was fun to read! ^-^ leave a comment if you want :3

Finally, they broke the kiss, pulling apart with slightly swollen lips and soft pink blushes. They stared into each other’s sparkling eyes, revelling the moment. Seungwoo leaned in to leave another soft peck on his lips, before pulling away fully. 

Seungsik sighed, looking up at the clock. “I should get going, if I want to get home before dark.” It was already nearly ten, and the sun was dangerously low on the horizon.

“I know... but first: we should exchange numbers, before we part without any way of contacting each other again.” He smiled a bit sadly, hating to say goodbye, in fear of not seeing him again. It was irrational; now that they were boyfriends there was no way they would go long without seeing each other again, but he couldn’t help it. They handed each other their phones, adding themselves in as a contact.

“I’ll text you soon.” He said as he showed him out. He gave him a small goodbye peck.

“I'll see you soon, hopefully.” He blushed and nodded.

“See you soon.”

Once he had made sure the other was completely gone and he had closed the doke, he flopped down on the couch and pressed one of the pillows into his face to miffle his screams. He couldn’t quite comprehend what had happened. The day had started off like any regular Sunday, but somehow he had ended up screaming and squeaking into a pillow over his cute new boyfriend.

When he was done screaming he hugged the pillow to his chest tightly. He missed him already, so he took his phone out, wondering if it was too early to send a message. This question was quickly answered, as there was already a text waiting for him.

 **Ss:** Miss you.

 **Sw:** come back then

 **Ss:** Ok, be right there

 **Sw:** JFJSKFJ no dont you should get home ;-;

 **Ss:** I know :((

 **Ss:** Meet up tomorrow? 0.0

 **Sw:** after work? im free after 6

 **Ss:** Perfect, come to my place after dinner. My friends will be there too.

 **Sw:** omg i get to meet your friends now?

 **Sw:** stressed but dressed to impress

 **Ss:** You don’t have to get dressed just yet lmao.

 **Ss:** But yes, you get to meet my friends now :3

 **Sw:** i hope theyll like me ^-^

 **Ss:** They will. And otherwise I’ll kick them out.

 **Sw:** noo stop ditching your friends for me pls

 **Ss:** No c:

 **Sw:** >:c

 **Ss:** :v don’t be angy

 **Sw:** damnit youre too cute

 **Ss:** \o/ thanks hehe.

 **Ss:** I got home.

 **Sw:** good, get some rest <3

 **Ss:** But talk :(

 **Sw:** butt talk?

 **Ss:** NO fbskfjs I just want to talk.

 **Sw:** we talk tomorrow :3 first, we sleep

 **Ss:** Alright, fair.

 **Ss:** Goodnight, hag.

 **Sw:** goodnight young one

 **Ss:** :') <3

 **Sw:** <333

He read through the messages again, hugging the pillow even tighter. The butterflies swirled through his stomach again as he thought about meeting him again the next day. The floaty feeling carried him to bed and was still there when he woke up the next morning. He couldn’t be sad about having another dreamless night if he was meeting with Seungsik again later. He also felt a bit nervous at the prospect of meeting the other’s friends, but if he could handle Hanse, Sejun and Subin all in one go, he was sure he could handle whatever friends he had to deal with that evening.

The butterflies didn’t let up all day, making him feel warm and fuzzy with anticipation a day. He floated through the store, cleaning his neglected shelves and reorganizing everything. He nearly broke a vase tripping over Onni, but he couldn’t even get mad. All he could do was laugh at her antics as she once again braved some of the book closets. He caught her when she fell and gently placed her back in her spot by the window, not even attempting to scold her. His customers were all friendly that day, and he left the store feeling no different from that morning. He wasn’t tired either.

He skipped back to his apartment, quickly messaging Seungsik that he was back, before he quickly shoved some food into his mouth. He took a quick shower and put on some neat but casual clothes. He sat around on the couch, waiting for the other to text him that he could come over. It didn’t take long before his phone buzzed with an incoming message. He quickly added the address in maps, making sure to favourite it, before getting up and heading out. He walked at a brisk pace, trying to get there as fast as possible, without breaking into a sweat. It wasn’t too far, only about a twenty minute walk. He stepped forward nervously, looking for the right bell.

After a few seconds the door clicked open. He stepped inside and looked at the instructions on his phone. He lived on the ground floor, through the hallway on the right, number five. That wasn’t too hard. He got there quickly and gently knocked on the door. Seungsik opened, looking nervous as well, and quickly leaned forward to peck him on the cheeks.  
“Hey,” he said softly.

“Hi, come in.” He stepped to the side to let him through. The layout of the apartment was similar to his, but mirrored. The bedroom was to the right here, and the kitchen and living room to the left. There, on the couch, two people were seated, one of whom he recognized.

“CHAN?!” He yelled, right as the other jumped up and pointed at him; “SEUNGWOO??”

“Oh, you two know each other?” Seungsik asked, surprised. Seungwoo took a moment to get over the shock, before nodding.

“Yeah, he manages one of the writers that holds signing events at my store. I’ve met him a few times.” He said, still a bit disoriented.

“Well, then I won’t introduce you two, but this here is Byungchan.” He pointed to the unfamiliar, tall man sitting on the couch with a bemused expression on his face. He waved.

“Hi, nice to meet you Seungwoo.” He smiled a very dimply smile. Seungwoo smiled back.

“Nice to meet you, Byungchan.” He said, awkwardly stuffing his hands in his pockets, unsure of what to do next.

“Please, sit down,” Seungsik said quickly, gesturing to the empty chairs set around the small coffee table, “do you want a drink?”

Seungwoo sat down on one of the chairs and shook his head.

“There’s enough on the table here, I’ll grab it myself, thank you.” He smiled as Seungsik sat next to him.

“So, Chan, why didn’t you tell me before you knew Seungwoo?” All eyes turned to Chan, who smiled bashfully.

“I didn’t make the connection. There are a lot of Seungwoo’s.”

“Yes and how many of those own a bookstore?” He questioned further, glaring at him. He didn’t have an answer to that, simply opening and closing his mouth like a fish without water. “Right.” He finally said. They all laughed at his shameful expression.

“I’m just joking, honestly. It’s nice you two know each other already, though, that makes it less awkward at the very least.” Seungsik said, nodding tk himself contently.

“Yeah, me and book boy go way back don’t we?” Chan said, patting Seungwoo on the shoulder. “When was the first time I came to your store again?”

“Like, two years ago maybe. We had both just started out, I remember how nervous I was to meet a writer and her manager, but then they were both just as inexperienced as I was. It made for a very... interesting day.” He remembered how much of a mess it had been to get everything ready on time that day. Jiu and Chan had been utterly unhelpful, only adding to the stress with their own worries, but it had been fun, he couldn’t deny that. “It’s never a boring day if Chan is involved.”

Seungsik snorted. “I completely agree with that sentiment.”

“Me too,” Byungchan said, giggling. “He is like a talking hurricane.”

They all laughed, even Chan, seeming unbothered by the teasing. Maybe he was used to it, Seungwoo thought. The same fire of questions as Seungsik had endured the previous day followed, mostly from Byungchan, all directed at Seungwoo this time. Once he had answered the flurry of questions to the satisfaction of both, he directed some at them back. Apparently Byungchan was a starting singer, with a beautiful voice. He got him to sing a bit, by flashing his sad cat look at him. He ensured him that he would make it far with a voice like that. Seungsik, who had seemed content to just listen up until that point, reinforced his words with his own, and Byungchan turned into a blushing mess under the fire of compliments.

The rest of the evening went amicably, with only minimal teasing from Chan. He suspected Seungsik was behind this, because every time it seemed Chan was about to say something to tease Seungwoo, he would shoot him a warning glance. Far sooner than he would like the evening turned to night, and Seungsik’s friends got up to head back home. He figured he should too, not wanting to keep him from much needed rest, but Seungsik had other plans. He patted the couch next to him, signalling him to come sit next to him. And so he did. Seungsik leaned his head on his shoulder and he turned to nuzzle his hair.

“Did you have a good time?” He asked, playing with Seungwoo’s hand again.

“Yes, I did. You have nice friends too.” He answered, leaving a soft kiss on his head. “I didn’t expect Chan to be one of them, but that was a pleasant surprise.”

“I’m glad.” He said, sounding tired.

“Should I go? So you can rest?” He asked carefully, not wanting him to think he wanted to leave, but giving him the option to kick him out.

“No, not yet,” He sat up and pouted at him, “don’t go yet.”

“Okay, baby, I’ll stay.” The nickname slipped out before he could stop it and Seungsik blushed furiously at it. He smiled and decided to tease him a bit. “You like being called baby?”

“No...” He turned his red face to look away.

“Oh? So I shouldn’t call you baby then?” He teased, gently touching his cheek, to move his face back towards him.

“I didn’t say that.” He said, his pout growing.

“You are baby, my baby.” He said, making him smile again, but also blush even more.

“I like that. Being your baby.” He said quietly.

“Then you can be my baby for as long as you want.” He leaned in and left a peck on his nose. The pout reappeared.

“Well, your baby wants proper kisses.” He said sullenly, jutting his bottom lip out.

“Baby gets what baby wants.” Seungwoo said, before gently placing his lips on his. They moved together as one, pulling each other closer until Seungsik was practically on his lap. He gently scraped his nails over his back, earning a soft groan and a tug on his hair. They broke the kiss, breathless, and he softly stroked his cheek. “Do you want to take this somewhere else?” He asked with a smirk, and when he got a shy nod he stood up, lifting the other with him and made his way to the bedroom.

“I think I love you.” Seungsik said a while later, when they were laying next to each other in his bed. Seungwoo’s eyes widened and he stared at him for a bit, not sure if he was joking. When he saw something of doubt and rejection in the other’s eyes he realized he hadn’t answered him.

“I think I do too.” He whispered and leaned in for another kiss. “Very much so.” He mumbled against his lips, and he felt him smile. He wished they could stay like this forever. And maybe they could, if he really loved him like he said he did. Then this would be allowed for as long as those feelings lasted, or until they grew old and weary together. And it seemed like he really did love him, if the way he clung to him in the kiss was anything to go by.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!! ^^ i hope i did this justice, it was an amazing prompt and my brain somewhat went rampant with it oops :3 find me on twt @yutabugi! ^-^


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